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Say, fellow, it you are among the lucky ones who have a wife, 
take her along with you out in the glorious paths of nature, lead her 
into the walks of the great out-o'-doors, take her along the water 
trails, the running stream, the placid lake. She will make a pal that 
is a pal and great will be the joy of the evening campfire with your 
mate under the starlit blue bowled sky as the moon shoots down its 
beams o' silver only to j be • br.pken into countless particles by the 
restless lake waters. 

When Mrs. Dixie came trotting up the trail with this nine and 
a half pound pike after a fifteen minute battle, all by her lonesome, 
in a cranky canoe, say, fellow, the smile on her face was worth a 
million. Take friend wife along next time, old timer, make an angler 
out of her, you'll find Irer a dead game sport on trail, in camp, rain 
or shine. 



I 



FISHING, TACKLE 
AND KITS 

Practical Information on Game Fish: How 

to Land Them; the Correct Tackle 

and How to Use It 



BY 

DIXIE CARROLL 

Editor of "The National Sportsman" and 
Fishing Editor oj "The Chicago Daily Neivs, " 
President oJ "The American Anglers' League," 
Author of "Lake and Stream Game Fishing" 



CINCINNATI 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 

1919 






Copyright, 1919, by 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY 
A// rights reserved 

Copyright in England 



^^2 ^^'^'^ ©01.A5296G9 



TO 

MY BROTHERS 

BYRON v., LATE OF THE U. S. NAVY, 

ALBERT JAY, ENGINEERS, A. E. F. FRANCE; 

WILLIAM W., FIELD ARTILLERY, A. E. F. FRANCS, 

ALL GOOD "PALS" ON LAKE, STREAM, 

CAMP AND TRAIL 



FOREWORD 

Dear Dixie: 

When the wild and rabid fishing fan secures a 
toe-hold on one of your books and spreads him- 
self out on the over-stuffed sofa preparatory to a 
feast of piscatorial reason and flow of soul, he cares 
little if anything about prefaces, preambles, pro- 
logues, introductions, and the like; to him these 
things are nothing more than the sprigs of parsley 
ornamenting a sirloin steak. What he wants is the 
real meat, so he brushes aside all such paltry decora- 
tions and immediately plunges into the delights of 
masticating the substantial food you offer him. 

Yet it is possible that, when his appetite is for 
the moment appeased, and he gives himself up to 
the languid pleasures of digesting what he has read, 
he may turn idly to the frothy and frivolous para- 
graphs of a foreword. It is for this reason that 
these words are written. It is possible, too, that 
a natural curiosity causes him to wonder what man- 
ner of man it really is that has prepared for him 
the delicious morsels, the delectable tid-bits on which 
he has just fed, and he desires a more intimate knowl- 
edge of that man's personality. In other words, he 



vi FOREWORD 

fain would take a peep behind the scenes and see 
the wheels revolve, as it were. And having played 
Watson to your Holmes for, lo, these many years, 
I am, perhaps, not altogether unqualified to guide 
him. 

A word picture of you seems superfluous, since 
the frontispiece of your last book, " Lake and Stream 
Game Fishing," carries a smiling, if not speaking 
likeness of yourself, and I understand that this book 
has enjoyed a very wide circulation. One of the 
striking features of this frontispiece, by the way, 
is the splendid set of teeth you reveal therein, and 
I trust I am violating no conventionality in stating 
that I know them to be of original growth and not 
a factory product. 

The smile already referred to would seem to in- 
dicate that you are a person of jovial disposition, and 
I am prepared to take oath that such, indeed, is the 
case. Only once have I known you to lose your 
invariable good humor. The occasion was when 
a certain game-hog wrote you a bragging account 
of the hundred and odd ducks he had killed In a 
single morning, winding up his letter with the state- 
ment that his gun didn't shoot as close as it used to, 
and what should he do to keep the shot from scat- 
tering? 

Never shall I forget the terrible frown that 
mantled your brow as you dictated the reply: "Use 
one shotl" 



FOREWORD vii 

My earliest Information concerning your intense 
interest in all things piscatorial was gained from an 
incident related by your father. It seems that the 
cat boat from which the two of you were fishing on 
Chesapeake Bay overturned and subjected you both 
to an involuntary cold bath. Then as dad swam 
ashore, with son perched on his back, you had the 
sublime nerve to call his attention to a school of 
fish loafing near by and to remark that if your land- 
ing net had not gone down when the boat upset, you 
would bet you could get a dozen of 'em at one 
swipe. From that time forward, I am told, you 
have been fishing or telling other people how to 
do it. 

Coming down to a more personal knowledge of 
your tastes and habits, it may not be out of place 
to state that, so far as I have been able to judge, 
your favorite feed Is baked beans, your favorite 
drink a seltzer lemonade, and your most favored 
indulgence a cat nap of perhaps a quarter of an hour 
after a session with the aforesaid beans. One 
habit of yours alone Invites my criticism and, I re- 
gret to say, my deep resentment: this is the little 
trick you have of tossing about in bed like a derelict 
tramp steamer on a storm-swept sea and planting 
your Icy feet with unerring accuracy in the small 
of your bunkie's back. But we all have our frailties, 
and I am not revealing this shortcoming of yours to 
the world so much with the idea of giving you a 



viii FOREWORD 

knock as to be accurate and faithful in my role of 
biographer. 

As to your knowledge of all that pertains to fish 
and fishing, and your delight in the great out-of-doors 
world, your books and articles speak for themselves. 
But it may be of interest to some to know that in the 
preparation of these writings your methods are some- 
what unique, in that you are just as liable to rouse 
the rest of the bunch in camp by getting up in the 
middle of the night, lighting the old oil lamp, and 
scribbling away on pieces of birch bark until dawn, 
as to switch on the electric current at home and pound 
away for interminable hours on the noiseless type- 
writer which the other member of your firm long 
ago insisted was a necessary adjunct to her peace- 
ful slumbers. 

Having had the privilege of reading the manu- 
script of your latest book before it went to press, I 
feel certain that a perusal of it will enable even the 
oldest hands at the fishing game to fatten their bat- 
ting averages. Here's hoping that they do so, that 
they make a lot of home runs, and that their fouls 
may be few and far between. 

Faithfully yours, 

Robert H. Moulton. 



PREFACE 

There is a reason for everything. The reason for 
this book, following " Lake and Stream Game Fish- 
ing" is that it may be the encouraging of the tyro 
to follow the call of the out-o'-doors. If it but 
starts one more fellow to the water trails it will have 
done some good, if it makes the pleasures of fishing 
more enjoyable to others it will have done more 
than its duty. 

Fellows of the rod and gun, brothers of the out- 
land trails, men of the quiet camp-fires, hear me 
now you all who know the teasing whisper of the 
wind as it soughs through the pines, the laughing 
voice of the fast-running stream waters, the quiet 
murmur of the placid lake as the waves kiss the 
moonbeams sent down from the starlit sky above, 
the deep silence of the nightlands of the out-o'-doors, 
you are the chosen children within whose being beats 
the heart that is true and from within come thoughts 
that are pure and golden. 

No man can commune with nature without being 
bettered thereby, no man can view the wonderful 
work of the Great Architect without a keener un- 
derstanding of his greatness. The out-o'-doors is 



X PREFACE 

a great church, It preaches a sermon to every man 
every time he has a chance to sit right up In the 
front row. The follower of the call of the out- 
lands is a man every time and true blue, he is on 
the square and can look you in the eye without drop- 
ping the lids. 

Let my prayer be always that my friends may 
be from the ranks of the keen fellows who know 
the yearning call of the red gods, from the ranks 
of the fellows who sneak away every chance they 
get to whip a lake or stream, or hike along the 
woodland trails, fellows who give you the glad hand 
of true friendship with a grip that you feel and 
know is coming from the heart. Kismet ! 

(Carroll Blaine Cook.) 

Timberedge Lodge, 

McNaughton, Wis. 
Nov. 19, 1918. 



INTRODUCTION 

It seems funny to introduce Dixie to the anglers. 
He has been writing outdoor stuff for so long and 
through so many sources that it seems that all anglers 
must know him. 

As editor of the leading sportsman's magazine, 
the National Sportsman, and fishing editor of the 
Chicago Daily News as well as some fifty other 
large metropolitan newspapers from coast to coast, 
Dixie has no doubt developed the fishing bug in 
more people than all other writers in the past ten 
years. 

The outdoors is a teacher, a leveler. It shows us 
just what a minute atom we are in the world. Na- 
ture is great and wonderful and it brings us back 
to the cities, cleaner, better citizens. To become 
one of nature's children is an opportunity that should 
never be neglected and to follow the teachings of 
one who has communed with old Dame Nature her- 
self and learned her secrets of forest, lake and 
stream, will mean much more pleasure to be derived 
therefrom. 

May your old one-lunged typewriter never be- 
come rusty, Dixie, and may you pound out many 



xii INTRODUCTION 

more breezy, " pal to pal " stones of the outlands 
along water trails, not only for the enjoyment of 
the embyro angler, but also for us old-timers. 

Sincerely, 

Don Leigh, 
Fishing Editor, 
Chicago Evening Journal. 
Chicago, Nov. 27, 19 19. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Throw Back the " Little Fellers " . . . . i 

Bass Fishing o' Nights 6 

Night-Casting Tackle ii 

Night Water Work 15 

Hot-Weather Baits 19 

Going Deep for Them 23 

''Wiggle o' the Worm 27 

Hail to the Spoon 31 

More About the Spoon 35 

Playing the Spoon 39 

Fall Fishin' 43 

Fall Baits 47 

More Fall Baits 51 

Fall Musky Fishing 55 

Stream-Raised Small-Mouth Bass 60 

The Floating Bass Bug 64 

Some Bass Bugs 68 

Facts About the Bass 73 

Hail to the Small-Mouth 78 

Some Fly Selections 83 

A Bit About Flies 88 

More About Flies 92 

Wind-Up on the Flies 96 

Reelspool to Lure 100 

Worming for Trout 104 

A Bit About Queer Baits 109 

On Handling the Plug 114 

Early Season Plugs 119 

j:4iooKs THAT Hook 'Em and Hold 'Em . . . .124 

A Bit About Steel Rods 129 

A Bit About Reels 134 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Backlashes and the Reason 139 

A Bit About Trolling 144 

Tackle Box Odds and Ends i49 

A Bit About Canoes 154 

Camp Kit for Canoe Trip . 159 

Personal Kit for Water Trails 164 

Inside the Grub Sack 169 

On Handling the Canoe i74 

The Ones that Get Away i79 

The Mud Minnow, Here's to 'Im 184 

What Ho! The Pike Family 189 

Among the Jumpers i94 

Luck and Skill 199 

Tackle in the Off-Season 204 

Fifty Wall-Eye Pike and How They Came to 

Gaff 209 

Fifty Pike and How They Came to Gaff . .221 
Fishing Tackle, Outdoor Equipment for Camp, 

Trail, Lake and Stream 233 

Pflueger-Supreme Casting Reel 235 

Telarana Nova Leaders 237 

Pflueger-Redifor Anti-Backlash Reel . . . 238 

Fly Rod Wiggler 240 

Heddon's Dowagiac Casting Rods 241 

Baby Crab Wiggler 242 

Wilson Wobblers and Getsem Bait .... 243 

Shannon Twin Spinner 245 

Hildebrandt Night Bug and Buck-Tail Shiner . 247 

Pflueger-Surprise Minnow 247 

Pflueger All-in-One Minnow 249 

Lowe-Star Spoon 250 

Hildebrandt Spinners 251 

Tuttle's Devil Bug 253 

The " Rainbow " Reel 254 

" Takapart " Reel 255 

Rush's Tango Midget Surface Bait .... 257 
Pflueger Golden West Fly-Casting Reel . .258 

Pflueger Luminous-Tandem Spinners . . . 259 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Pflueger-Avalon Salt Water Reel .... 260 

Kingfisher Lines 262 

Palmer Cork Body Floating Grasshopper . . 263 
Peckinpaugh Night Bug and Bucktail Shiner . 265 
Reinforced Silk-Wound De Luxe Steel Fishing 

Rods 266 

OsPREY Lines 267 

Beetzel Reel 268 

Babe-Oreno and Midget Surf-Oreno .... 269 
" Been There Bait Casting Hook " . . . .271 
The Booster Bait and the Producer Weedless 

Hook 272 

Schoonie's Skooter Bait 273 

King Minnow Net 274 

McCoRMic Mermaid Bait 274 

Creek Chub Wiggler 275 

Keep-'Em-Alive Fish Stringer 277 

Hanson's Irresistible Bait 278 

Olt's O. K. Spinners 279 

Peters' Spoon-Swiveled Insect Bait .... 280 
Schilling's Lucky Angle Swivel Spreader . .281 

The Liar Convertible Minnow 282 

Ref's Bass Bugs 283 

Wyman Hair Flies 284 

Shakespeare Level Winding Reels 285 

" Y & E " Automatic-Combination Reel . . . 287 

Milam Rustic No. 3 Reel 288 

Evinrude Motor 289 

Theroz Mess Kit 291 

Thermos Bottles 292 

Kampkook Stove 293 

Pelletier Hand-Made Snow-Shoes 294 

Telescope Cot Bed 296 

The Red-E Folding Broiler Stove and Oven . . 297 

Comfort Sleeping Pocket 298 

Perfection Cape 299 

FuMo Mosquito and Fly Chaser 301 

Taplex Handy Warmer 302 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The McMillin Auto Bed 303 

Keen Kutter Jr. Shaving Set 304 

Stonebridge Folding Lantern 305 

Schilling's Auto-Camp ,. 307 

Danz Bags 308 

Kapo Kantsink Garments 309 

Ever Ready Auto Bed 310 

Aerothrust Motor 311 

Hoppe's Nitro Powder Solvent No. 9 . . . .312 

Raz Creel Harness 313 

Parr Folding Frog Box 315 

DuxBAK Clothing 316 

Bradley Sweaters 31? 

"Wear-Ever" Aluminum Ware 319 

Broadbill Duck Call . 320 

Fly-Tying Material 321 

Olt's Game Calls 322 

Heinz Foods 323 

Anker's Brand Bouillon Capsules 324 

White House Coffee 325 

Teco Pancake and Teco Buckwheat Flour . . 327 

Ry-Krisp 328 

Farwell & Rhines' J'lours and Foods .... 329 

Grape-Nuts 331 

Instant Postum 332 

Gossom's Quick Made Powdered Soups . . . 333 



FISHING, TACKLE 
AND KITS 



THROW BACK THE " LITTLE FEL- 
LERS " 

OUR CREED. 

" To encourage the re-stocking of lakes and streams ; 
to advocate the observing of all fishing laws ; to throw 
back uninjured the undersized fish ; to catch game fish 
in a sportsmanlike manner with rod, line and reel, in 
order to make the sport of fishing better in the years 
that follow." 

It's a great little game, this fishin,' old-timer, and 
while much has been written for the beginner on the 
" how " of landing the game fins, little has been 
written on keeping up the supply. When we lope 
out to the fishing waters we have the deep-seated 
desire to come back and dangle a few big fellows 
before our admiring friends and shoot a line of 
bull on the wonderful fight the game fin put up in 
his efforts to outmatch our tackle skill with his wily 
craftiness and antihook knowledge. 

Every keen fellow who answers to the call of the 
water trails knows that there is more in fishing than 



2 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the mere landing of the underwater veterans. In 
the spring the wonderful greening up of the trees 
and underbrush strikes a responsive chord in the 
angler and the budding outdoors shoots a rapid-fire 
tingling into the jaded nerves, suffering from a long 
winter's session with the steam radiators, movies, 
and dodging the high cost of living. Right through 
until old lady Nature brilliantly mints the leaves In 
countless tints of gold the pulsebeat of the fisherman 
throbs in unison with the great spirit of the out- 
doors. The whispering of the wind in the pines, 
the laughter of the rushing stream waters, the flash 
of the dying sun on the quiet lake, the plaintive call 
of the loon as the moon shoots down its beams amid 
the silence far greater than you have ever expe- 
rienced in the walled-up cities builded by man. 
These are all the heritage of the fisherman and are a 
few of the wonders that make the sport more than a 
mere matter of getting the fish. 

GREAT CHEST DEVELOPER 

Of course, old man, regardless of the pleasures of 
the outdoors, very few if any of the knights of the 
arching rod and humming reel like to come home 
without a fair-sized creel or stringer. It is part of 
the game for the victor to come swaggering in with 
the spoils of battle, it makes everyone feel better, 
the pals think you are " some " fisherman, the wife 
proudly flaunts the string before the neighbors and 



THROW BACK THE " LITTLE FELLERS " 3 

you yourself throw another outward and upward 
angle to the chest when you look 'em over for the 
last time before they hit the frying pan. 

Every true sportsman who angles for the game 
fins wishes to make the sport better each year so that 
he can enjoy it and lead his friends into the walks of 
the outdoors that they may become fellow craftsmen 
of the cleanest of recreations. And to keep fishing 
on the up-move there is one little old rule that every 
fisherman should follow to the last card, and that is 
to throw the " little fellers " back. These small, 
inquisitive youngsters have never had the expert 
training to enable them to evade the barbed hook, 
and they generally take a wallop at the lure, because 
they don't know any better. It isn't sport to land 
'em, and if you toss the little rascals back into the 
wet, maybe they will grow up into a sure-enough old 
" he-whop " with a kick' in his tail like a sick mule, 
and great guns, man, you may be the lucky dog to 
hook 'im later when he puts up the grand old fight 
of the foxy underwater warrior, that sets the thrills 
to racing through the veins and the short jumps 
climbing up the backbone. 

NIX ON THE TAPE MEASURE 

There sure is no place in the gang for the fisher- 
man who stretches the tail and pulls the mouth of the 
fish in order to get just enough length to work 'em 
into the legal limit — the tape-line fisherman is in a 



4 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

class by himself, and don't ride with the big crowd. 
There are generally plenty of big ones in waters 
where the little fellers live, only sometimes it takes a 
bit keener work to coax them into the air — but 
when they do strike, old scout, the battle is worth the 
wait, and perhaps to this plunging, rushing fight you 
can thank some other fisherman for throwing back 
the little feller. 

Above is the creed of the American Anglers' 
league, an organization with members all over the 
country, and this creed is the entire object of this 
body of followers of the water trails. Any fisher- 
man, anywhere, may become a member by agreeing 
to hold up the creed and call it to the attention of 
other anglers he may meet in whipping stream or 
lake. It carries the fellowship of the outdoors and 
each member is an advocate of the laws to protect 
the finny tribe so that their number may increase and 
their size make 'em fit for the heavy-weight class. 

MAKE FISHING BETTER 

Every fisherman in this neck of the waters should 
join in this movement to make his favorite sport bet- 
ter in every way. The restocking of lakes and 
streams, with regularity would make of any " civil- 
ized " waters mighty good fishing, and then to follow 
the American Anglers' league creed would keep 
those waters in good shape from year to year. The 
large number of fellows who would get acquainted 



THROW BACK THE " LITTLE FELLERS " 5 

with the sport of fishing through this work, would 
enjoy a close-up of old Dame Nature that would 
make for better citizens and give them a dash of 
" pep " that would make them face the daily battle 
with a flash to the eye and a spring to the step. 

As the seasons open, old-timer, the boys will begin 
their pilgrimages to the waters in quest of the shin- 
ing golden fleece, and here's hoping they wear as a 
brassard this clean-cut creed of the true sportsman, 
and that they have luck on lake and stream and up- 
hold this creed as their creed so that the days of 
angling may be better now and in the years that fol- 
low. 



BASS FISHING O'NIGHTS 

Old-timer, have you ever lounged back on the 
close-packed sod, with your favorite jimmy pipe do- 
ing its bit to soothe your nerves, old Dame Nature 
turning out the lights and closing up things for the 
day? The camp-fire just hittin' it up on low, with 
a star shootin' down here and there in the blue- 
bowled sky and the jeer of an idiot loon breaking 
the silences of the wonderland; then off to starboard 
you hear a splash and a flop in the water, then an- 
other and many of them. Doesn't it make your 
sporting blood tingle as the old " he-whops " do 
their sonata of the evening waters? It's music to 
your ears, this overture of the flopping bass as they 
do an " Annette Kellermann " after a fleeing min- 
now, and it sure is a winning bet that you are over- 
looking some real sport in the fishing game if you 
do not slip into your canoe and meet the advancing 
enemy half way and take a flier at night-casting. 
For a line of sport that has more thrills tacked onto 
it than any other angle of the game, night-casting 
has the rest of the herd eating grass at the starting 
post. 

Many of the clan of the arching rod and the sing- 
ing reel have overlooked this five-reel thriller and 

6 



BASS FISHING O' NIGHTS 7 

thereby missed a session with a set of nerves they 
never knew was a part of their system. If, on your 
first night-casting expedition, you don't experience a 
series of jumps and kicks to your vertebra that 
shoots the tingles and joythrobs racing through your 
veins, you are of a different make-up than the ordi- 
nary old scout who follows the gladsome call of 
lake and stream. 

Pick out a nice little bay where the waters run into 
shallows shorewards, the kind of a bay where the 
minnows are at home, and give this httle old bay a 
close once-over, locating a point at which to anchor 
your craft for your night foray on the playful bass 
as they gorge on the little " fellers." As the day- 
shadows begin to lengthen into dusk, quietly work 
your boat to the anchorage, which should be selected 
for casting on all sides, drop your anchor and take 
your time, old scout, slip into an easy position and 
dream a few dreams of other days. Soon enough 
you'll hear a splash off to the left near the weed 
patch, make your cast and zing! he strikes. In the 
excitement you give him the butt and he breaks water 
just off there in the distance, and you play him up to 
the net with a thrill that gives you new life. Take 
a bit of time now, don't rush the game. As things 
darken up and you cannot distinguish the shore line 
nor the windfalls and weed-beds, the mystery of the 
game begins to work into your system, and at the 
next splash of the leaping bass your cast goes out, 



8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

perhaps a bit short or a little overshot, because of 
the excitement of the game, but he strikes, and now, 
with the real simon-pure black night encircling you, 
you have a real piece of work cut out for your skill 
in the fishing game. You niggardly give him a bit 
of line and clamp on the thumb as he steals for the 
underwater snags, and you reel him in as the cold 
sweat beads on your forehead at the mystery of the 
game. As you net this old veteran of the watery 
recesses, you just about lose all control, as the next 
flop comes right beside the canoe; then there are 
fl^ops all around you and the work starts in earnest, 
as you hope to remember the lay-out of the bay and 
trust to luck and the nine gods as you swing a cast 
off into the blackness around you, which is punctured 
here and there by the splashes of the game fins in 
their playful feeding. 

My first shot at the real dark night-casting was 
an accident, and the sport was so fine that it made a 
regular nighter out of me. But I hit the game with- 
out any preparation, and the excitement of that night 
remains as the most thrilling experience of my fish- 
ing life. A good old pal and myself were making 
camp after a fairly fine piece of late-evening fishing. 
Things had darkened up a bit and we were slowly 
slipping along the water, trying to pick out our 
course without hitting more than the usual number 
of snags and windfalls. Fact is, we had lost our 
bearings and were trusting to luck and instinct to 



BASS FISHING O' NIGHTS 9 

make camp without an accidental wetting, when off 
to the right the big flop of a man-sized fish sent a 
thrill through our nerve centers. The pal made a 
cast off In the direction of the splash; the Immediate 
strike came like a battering ram, and as he played 
him up to the canoe, with a couple of breaks to the 
air, my own nerves took a few jumps when I slipped 
the net down under him. And say, old-timer, when 
we lamped this large-mouth, that tipped the scales at 
seven and a quarter pounds, and heard his pals doing 
their jig on the top o' the water, we were both as 
crazy as loons. Right away we shot two casts that 
developed as nice a pair of back-lashes as ever fell 
to the spool of a reel. Plump in the middle of a 
bass family and the reel tied up with a twisted bunch 
of line, we both had strikes and pulled them in hand 
over hand, and the rest of the casts were made by 
swinging the plug around in a circle and letting it fly 
out among the floppers. Of course this style of 
casting was not ethical, as it were, but wholnell can 
be ethical with the pulse doing about 106 and a 
bunch of the bass trying to jump Into the canoe to 
bite your fingers off? The canoe was a jumbled-up 
mess of lines, plugs, nets and fish, but the climax 
came when a big pike took the pal's plug, and started 
in on a bunch of fancy tricks right close up to the 
canoe. For twenty minutes we had a great old time 
trying to land this " regular " guy without taking a 
Brodle into the drink. For a bunch of thrills, this 



lo FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

was sure a great producer, and when we finally made 
camp we were dyed-in-the-wool night-casters, but we 
were strong for preparedness for that kind of stuff 
in the future. We decided that the right kind of 
tackle was the " safety-first " of this night stuff, and 
that night-casting had more punch to it than all the 
rest of the game put together. 



NIGHT-CASTING TACKLE 

There are two kinds of night-casting, either of 
which are sure-fire winners. Moonlight night, and 
the simon-pure black night, both good fishing-time 
with a winning kick to the inky-black affair as the 
real thrill producer. For moonlight-casting you can 
let your canoe glide along the outer edges of most 
any bay or cove and cast into the shore and cover 
considerable water, but for the black night, with 
just the stars burning out here and there, you must 
select your fishing waters during the day and study 
them well, because your casting is going to be a 
bit of judgment on your part without any helpers 
along the side lines to give you distance and loca- 
tions. 

For night-casting a great deal depends upon the 
tackle, and it would be simply playing tag with fate 
to use a nifty bamboo rod for this sport; at times 
you must give the butt and do a bit of pumping, and 
who wants to subject a pet split-bamboo to such 
rough usage? Make the rod a steel one, and one 
that has plenty of backbone and stiffness. Long 
casts are not at all necessary, and a good stiff steel 
rod will tickle a fighting bass behind the gills with 
more success than any other kind, and do the job 

II 



12 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

without suffering any during the operation. Should 
you by any species of luck hook a pike, or, great 
guns ! — a musky, there is quite a bit of satisfaction 
out there in the black darkness to have your paws 
wrapped around a good stiff old steel rod, and get 
the lay right, old-timer, you'll need all the help a 
good strong rod can give you to bring a life-sized 
roughneck to gaff when you cannot tell whether he's 
coming to you or making a drive for the far end of 
the lake. 

In the matter of reels It is a choice between the 
Anti-back-lash or the level winders, unless, of course, 
you feel like doing a bit of knitting and cussing in 
the great old handicap of backlashes. Between the 
self-thumbing reel and the level-winder there is not 
much choice, as they both are the real stuff for the 
night game. The Ideal reel, however, for night- 
casting is the tool that combines both of these fea- 
tures, and two reels In this class that stand out like 
" four of a kind " are the Beetzsel and the Pflueger- 
Supreme. Either of these reels makes night-casting 
a pleasant occupation. The South Bend Anti-back- 
lash and the Pflueger-Redifor Antl-back-lash are 
good workers In the self-thumbing line, and the 
Shakespear level-winder is an excellent tool for night 
use. 

The fifteen-pound test line is plenty strong enough 
and the soft-braided No. 6 silk casting-line used for 
general casting Is about right, although a line testing 



NIGHT-CASTING TACKLE 13 

at twenty to twenty-five pounds is not amiss if you 
are fishing in waters inhabited by the big fellows. 
And just chalk this up on the score-board, the big 
fellows are great night feeders. This is especially 
so in the warm summer nights, at which time some 
of the larger fish are brought to gaf?. 

As to the plugs for this end of the game, your 
selection should be entirely of the surface or semi- 
surface variety, as the underwater lures are taboo, 
they have too much of an inclination to slip down to 
the bottom and lovingly cling to any old thing they 
can hook onto. And then, again, why use an under- 
water plug when the fish are all flopping around on 
the surface? For the real dark nights, the all-white 
lures are the best, and particularly those coated with 
the luminous enamel which glows like the dampened 
head of an old-style parlor match. Let a couple of 
these luminous plugs lie out in the sunlight for a 
short time, or expose them to the glow of your camp 
light before paddling out to your fishing waters, and 
the glow they shoot off in the darkness will make 
any flopping bass curious enough to give them a wal- 
lop. Not only do they help the baas to become in- 
terested, but you can see them yourself at consider- 
able distance and keep in touch with your lure as it 
wobbles in through the black. 

That these luminous plugs are the real stuff was 
shown to me quite vividly last season when on a little 
night-casting jaunt. I threw a walloping cast over 



14 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

towards a fairly loud splash and succeeded in twin- 
ing my line around the limb of a windfall that stuck 
up out of the water, the plug dancing in the air about 
six inches from the surface of the water. This wig- 
gling plug was too much for an over-zealous bass; it 
sort of got his scales all ruffled up, and he up and 
strikes that Pflueger-Surprise minnow, hooking him- 
self. He sure cut up a bunch of tricks, half in 
the water and the rest up in the air. He kicked up 
such a rough-house that another bass joined him in 
the fight for the shining plug. I find, also, in the 
plug line, that the surface bait which kicks up a little 
riffle as it reels in makes an added attraction, al- 
though most of the strikes are made by the fish as the 
plug hits the water, or very soon after the splash, in 
fact, a good-sized splash when the lure strikes the 
water helps show 'em the way, and how easy it is to 
locate the bait. A mighty good plan is to either use 
all weedless hooks on your plugs or to substitute the 
trebled hooks with the twin hooks which ride points 
up. In this way you will avoid a lot of trouble, 
especially if the waters you fish are weedy or full 
of snags. Of course you may not hook all your fish, 
but you will not haul in a mess of weeds every shot, 
and who ever had a fish strike a lure when it was 
buried in a litter of straggling weeds? 



Here are a bunch of spoons and spinners that are all good at- 
tractive lures for bait casting. Natural baits such as the minnow, 
frog, pork rind or chunk are assisted greatly as a lure when used 
with a spoon or spinner in bait casting. 

No. 1 is a Skinner white enameled- spoon with tail hook; No. 2 
a South Bend Bucktail spinner with a sinker and weedless; No. 3 a 
Becker-Sheward "Been There" weedless spinner with tying rig for 
frog and twin trail hooks; No. 4 a Joe Pepper spinner; No. 5 a 
Jamison Shannon Twin Spinner; No. 6 a Al Foss Pork Rind Min- 
now; No. 7 a Pflueger Lowe-Star spoon; No. 8 a Hildebrandt Slim 
Eli Spinner with fly; and No. 9 a Prescott Spinner. 

A layout of twirls and spins that ought to attract most any game 
fish and effective in lake and stream casting. Right for any tackle 
box and well made stuff. 



NIGHT WATER WORK 

The white plug and the luminous affairs have it 
all over the other colors, but here is a little tip that 
is worth trying out on your first moonlight casting 
trip this season. If you have ever indulged in the 
pleasure of fly-casting in the evening when the stars 
were out and the sky clear and fine, you have evi- 
dently found that the darker flies were more attrac- 
tive to the fish than the lighter feathery fancies. 
This has been the way the cards stack up with me, 
and I account for it by fhe fact that the darker fly 
stands out more clearly against the lighter sky, as it 
rests on the dark water; in fact, it silhouettes against 
the sky, while the lighter flies blend in with the re- 
flected light of the sky background, and the fish, 
looking up from the bottom, see the dark fly more 
plainly than a lighter one. Having this dope from 
past performances at tossing the flies in the evening, 
when the Hildebrandt people brought out the black 
spinners I tried these out and found them quite 
effective lures for late afternoon and evening fishing. 
Mulling this dope around in my think-tank, at the 
tail end of last season, I darkened up a couple of 
plugs with black shoe polish and used them for cast- 
ing in the evening and on one or two moonlight 

15 



i6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

nights. Say, old top, these black lures made good 
with a kick, and this season I expect to give the dark- 
ies a thorough try-out for the clear evening and 
moonlight fishing. Therefore, the tip to the live- 
wires to blacken up a couple of old surface plugs and 
take a try with them this season. It's a safe bet 
that some of the tackle people will be putting out 
dark or black lures when they wise up to the fact 
that they are good dope for evening fishing. 

A part of the kit for night fishing that you should 
not fail to tote along is an electric flash lamp, one 
of the pocket variety. There is nothing that will 
come in more handy than one of these little lights 
for the moments when you are landing a fighting 
bass. I use the small, flat light, because it fits well 
in the hand and can be held along the landing-net 
staff without any trouble, and is, I think, easier 
handled than the round-shaped lights. I also slip 
a small-caliber revolver in my pocket for the shot 
of grace for one of the big pike or musky, if I am 
blessed with luck enough to connect up with one of 
these big fellows during the night. Trying to play 
a big fin until you can gaff him is somewhat of a 
risky game in the dark, and I have no desire to take 
a ducking through a miss-balanced effort to play and 
land an old he-whop of the watery recesses. 

Another thing that will be found mighty valuable 
is a compass. This little invention of the heathen 
Chinee will make it easy to steer a clean course back 



NIGHT WATER WORK 17 

to camp, and making camp in the dead o' night when 
you have nothing at all to steer by is no kid's trick. 
I use one of the luminous kind with the wrist strap, 
which is plainly visible at night and in a handy posi- 
tion for steering. For a landing net, make it with 
as large a mouth as possible, and don't try to gaff 
the fish at night. Although we never have had an 
accident, there are so many chances to pull a boner 
at night-fishing during the excitement that a fellow 
should cut down the possibilities as much as possible 
and make the percentage lower. 

Esepecially in July and August you will find the 
night-fishing game worthy of your efforts; in these 
months particularly are the grand old bass feeding 
at night, and, shucks, there is no better time to catch 
fish than when they are feeding. In many civilized 
lakes close in to the large cities, where it is often 
hard to land even a few bass during the daytime, 
you will find that a little try at the night-fishing stunt 
will bring you a fine string of bass. In these waters 
the bass are pestered to death during the day, and 
they generally wisely lie in the deep pools and wait 
until things quiet down a bit at night before they go 
on the feed. 

For the night caster the thrills of fishing are mul- 
tiplied many times over the usual daylight stuff, and 
it is sure a cool cuss who can remain calm and col- 
lected after the big fins begin their flopping sport. 
If you have a weak heart, old-timer, stay away from 



i8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the great night sport, because you're sure going to 
find it chock full of excitement from the first cast 
to the last back-lash. 

To really have a successful night-fishing trip, you 
should go prepared for that kind of fishing. No 
fellow wishes to subject his fine light tackle to the 
strenuous work he will surely run into while flirting 
with the flopping fins of the dark waters. 



HOT-WEATHER BAITS 

There is one spot that should never be overlooked 
in hot-weather fishing, and that is the lone water- 
soaked log that is usually found more or less in the 
lake country. This old snag will be found with one 
end just about sticking out of the water, the other 
running far down in the water and imbedded in the 
sand or mud bottom. It's a hundred-to-one shot 
there are bass down around this veteran of the for- 
est. One of these old snags I remember well; it got 
to be a regular habit, as we passed it each day, re- 
turning from fishing a string of lakes, to stop and let 
a minnow or frog down along this snag and take out 
a bass or two before we paddled over to our camp. 
And the lone little snag sticking up out of the water; 
it may be only the smallest of branches, but a cast 
over alongside may mean a fine bass. I have 
thrown a minnow close in to the smallest of snags 
and been nearly taken off my feet by the walloping 
strike of a big fish. When a fellow is out for fish 
the best place to look for them is in their favorite 
spots, and the windfalls and logs are sure some regu- 
lar bass homes, especially in the hot weather. 

In fishing a pool in a stream I found a little trick 
picked up from a Cree Indian a certainty in getting 

19 



20 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

a fish nearly every time I tried It. This foxy " na- 
tive son " of the North woods placed a frog on a 
little piece of birCh bark and let it float downstream, 
just as it passed a bowlder and swung into the edge 
of a fine pool he gave the line a little jerk and off 
the birch bark hopped the frog and made for land 
in a natural swim, but he only kicked about a dozen 
strokes before a big old bass snapped him up for 
keeps. I have worked this stunt a score of times 
and it generally ended with a bass on the business 
end of the line. 

At times the grasshopper makes a great little 
stream bait; this is usually so in the afternoon or 
evening. To work him right get on the side of the 
stream from which the wind is blowing. If you 
will just lounge back in a comfy position for a few 
minutes and watch a pool, you will notice that the 
wind carries the hoppers out onto the water as they 
hop around the shore; then, shortly, there will be a 
little splash and the water rings show where the 
hopper " ustobe " but is no more. He has made 
some old bass happy. Catch a few hoppers for bait 
and use 'em natural. Don't run a hook through 
them and take all the hop away, but lay the hopper 
along the shank of the hook and wind a little black 
thread around his body and the hook and cast him 
lightly out on the water. Let him kick round him- 
self and don't try to help make him flop naturally by 
a lot of short jerks that only show the bass that 



HOT-WEATHER BAITS 21 

there is a string to the bait, and they certainly don't 
want to connect up with no string. This method of 
handling the hopper is also mighty good for the fast 
water just as it enters the pools, that is, if you let the 
water carry the hopper along naturally. When he 
hits the edge of the quiet water he will do a bunch 
of kicks that sure will attract some of the game fins 
that are always hanging around those places. 

As a general thing the minnows are more numer- 
ous in the warm streams and lakes. The minnow 
from the river or creek makes the best bait, espe- 
cially those taken from the swifter water, besides be- 
ing more vigorous and lively than their brothers 
from the warmer lakes and ponds, they have a more 
silvery shine which makes a decidedly attractive lure 
to the game fins on the lookout for a fancy feed. 
For bass the silver shiner or dace makes a good bait 
for most any time or condition of water, and it is 
particularly good for dark and cloudy days and in 
rough water. The river or creek chubs are a hardy 
lot, and they have a tough mouth that holds well on 
the hook, and the fact that they have a bit more pep 
than the shiner makes 'em a favorite bait with lots 
of fishermen. On bright, clean days the chub is a 
mighty good lure. About tbe best allround minnow 
that seems to cheer up the bass into a striking humor 
is the mud minnow. This minnow is a dark little 
fellow with yellowish golden sides and belly, and 
its husky constitution makes it a prime favorite. 



22 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

He is the liveliest chap in the whole minnow fam- 
ily and he is on the job every minute that he is in 
the water. There never was a bass that could re- 
sist the " Salome " dance of the mud minnow, and 
I have used the same minnow to land as high as 
three bass before he lost his kick. The small 
sucker, redfin, or silver-side, the darter, slender 
silver-side and the blunt-nose minnow all make good 
baits. A strange thing in the bass game is that 
these fish seem to show a preference for minnows 
from other waters than those in which they live, 
which may account for the popularity of the min- 
now from creek and stream. 

When you take a flier at the hot-weather stuff, old- 
timer, just remember to go about the game quietly, 
let the bait down to where the game fins are, and 
feed 'em the line of food they have a fancy for. At 
the same time, of course, you gotta brush up your 
gray matter and locate the fish in their underwater 
retreats, where they have gone to enjoy the cool 
waters in the deep pools. If you go after them in 
the hot weather you'll get 'em — but you have to 
rub the bait right against their nose. 



GOING DEEP FOR THEM 

There is no time in tlie fishing season when more 
■skill is needed on the part of the angler than during 
the hot weather, and that is the time, old scout, when 
your knowledge of the fish and their habits pays big 
dividends. The game fins are decidedly particular 
about their hot-weather menu, and they often pass 
up a line of feed that would make 'em stretch their 
skins to get it either early or late in the season. 
When the mercury is on the 'high-notch move and 
the water takes on that glassy surface stuff, the fish 
are tailing around looking for the cool spring holes 
in the deep pools and they do the most of their feed- 
ing very early in the morning, late in the afternoon 
and during the evening and night. During the most 
of the daylight hours they are hugging the bottom, 
just lying around in a lazy sort of a way digesting 
their food. At this period you can whip the surface 
to a foam without coaxing them to a strike; it's a 
case of sending your bait right down to them if you 
expect them to give it the double O. 

For a few hours in the very early morning you 
will generally find the bass in the shallows feeding, 
and at this time you can cast with the semi-surface 
artificials with fair success, although a nice little 
piece of pork rind with a weighted red Ibis fly makes 

23 



24 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

a dandy casting lure for the early a. m. stunt. 
After their morning feed, back to the deep pools 
hike the game bass, and you don't see much of them 
again in the bait-casting game that day, until very 
late in the afternoon or evening, when another shot 
at casting usually puts a few on the stringer. In 
fact, the evening casting is more successful than the 
early morning. 

The real bait that makes 'em nervous and gives 
'em enough pep to make a strike is the live natural 
food of the fish, the minnows, frogs, crawfish, worms 
and grasshoppers. These baits, if sent down to the 
game fins, are the one best bet in the hot daytime. 
If you are after bass, old-timer, locate a spring hole 
or sand bar anywhere at a depth of from twenty to 
a hundred feet down, if your fishing waters run that 
deep, arfd let your little old live bait settle and you'll 
get bass while the other fellow gets muscular exer- 
cise doing the casting act. Right in midseason, 
when it was hotter than Billybedamn, I have had 
some fine bass fishing for small-mouth. Of course 
some of the fellows will pass the buck that this is 
nothing but still-fishing, but there is an angle to the 
game that puts a kick into it that will make it a 
mighty diverting sort of a stunt if you play it right. 

Take your fly-rod, or if you don't cotton to that 
kind of fishing, get a cheap steel rod about ten or 
twelve feet long, use your regular bait-casting reel 
and slip into the game. Hook on a minnow and 



GOING DEEP FOR THEM 25 

give it a short cast, sort of a side swipe and without 
any more force than to carry the bait out about 
twenty feet from the boat, so that it lands very 
hghtly on the water. This is necessary, for the 
reason that a lot of your success depends on the wig- 
gle of the minnow down there in the bass country, 
and he sure won't have any wiggle if you wallop him 
out on the water with a smack. When you get your 
strike way down below and the line telegraphs the 
short signal to you, don't strike, but give the bass a 
chance to run with the bait, because he does that 
every time with the live bait, and striking at once, 
after his strike, simply means that you will tear the 
bait out of his mouth or in half. The bass of the 
hot weather doesn't take much of a hold on your 
bait at the start, and when he makes his run let him 
have the line. He may run ten feet or a hundred — 
there is no rule or reason to the length of the run, 
it's entirely up to the old he-whop and the humor 
he is in. When you feel the pull no longer, on the 
line, dope it out, old man, that he has stopped and 
is turning the minnow around in his mouth and swal- 
lowing it head first, give him about ten seconds to do 
this stunt and then strike him and set the hook firmly 
in his tough old mouth. 

Now the real sport begins, if you are holding the 
butt end of a long whippy fly-rod, like old Dan 
Patch, the bass makes a run that arches your rod 
from tip to butt and almost makes it a complete cir- 



26 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

cle, and when you begin to take away that fifty or a 
hundred feet of line, your work is cut out for you. 
At times the scrappy rascal will make a direct run 
to the surface and catch you with a slack line, and 
making his famous break water will give your hook 
a shake, and good night! he's gone. It takes speedy 
work with the reel to save him. At other times he 
will sulk on the bottom and make you tug and strain 
your tackle and patience to work him up. Often he 
will sneak into a crevice In the rocks. If there are any 
down below, and you can jig-saw quite a bit before 
you bring him up and he has sense enough to work 
around the sharp edge of a rock so that you will 
saw your line in two trying to work him to the net. 

Last season, while fishing with Earny Wendt, one 
of the best little guides that ever dipped a paddle, 
we would locate a school of small-mouth bass and 
quietly fish the school until we had the whole outfit. 
In one pool we took eight bass out of a school of 
eleven that Earny could count as they lazied around 
on the sandy bottom. We dropped our mud min- 
nows over the side and let them slowly sink down 
among the bass, and often two or more bass would 
make a dart for the minnow, the lucky fellow mak- 
ing a run wit*h his prey until he thought It was safe 
to stop and swallow It. The run of these bass 
averaged from forty to ninety feet. This was hot- 
weather fishing In midday with the thermometer 
registering about 90 degrees. 



WIGGLE O' THE WORM 

A few seasons ago, at a lake that is considered 
very civilized waters and which has been fished to 
a fare-you-well and summer-resorted to a finish for 
the past twenty years, three fishermen landed as nice 
a bunch of small-mouth bass as you'll meet in many 
a day's fishing, and on a hot August day with a sun 
that burned through their shirts. These three old- 
timers at the bassing game located a spring hole in 
ninety feet of water and from this cool spot landed 
forty-eight small-mouth, ten of which ranged from 
three and one-half to five pounds. And the bait 
they used in this foray of pleasure was the common, 
wiggling angleworm. That same day many fisher- 
men were casting along the short line and failed to 
string enough bass to make a man's-size breakfast. 

In the angling derby the little old " fish " worm of 
our youth has not received half the credit that is 
due him. This is probably due to the fact that he 
has been overlooked in the mad rush for the vari- 
colored artificials that have made bait-casting the 
most popular end of the game. Then again, the 
fact that fly fishermen generally tilt the nose skyward 
when the worm is even mentioned probably has given 
it a black eye with the beginner, who, above all 

27 



28 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

things, hates " likell " to have the experienced angler 
think that he is a tyro at the sport. But you can 
chalk this up in your think tank, old scout, when the 
fly fisherman fails to coax 'em up to the top with the 
feathery fancies he tosses to them, he usually takes 
a look up and down stream to see if anyone is watch- 
ing him, then with the coast clear he sneaks a bait- 
box out of his coat pocket and hooks on a worm, or 
" garden hackle " as he -styles it, and takes a little 
flier at worming, so that he does not come back to 
camp with an empty creel. 'Tis a great little friend 
in need, this wiggling angleworm, for the reason 
that he can wiggle his way into the affections of 
nearly every fish that swims most any time of the 
season, and they sure cannot overlook him in the hot 
weather. 

There is a lot in hooking the worm so that he will 
have a chance to wiggle, and you can take it from 
Uncle Dixie, the wiggling worm is the one that at- 
tracts the fish. Slip the hook through the skin of 
the worm about an inch from 'his liead, then skip 
about half way down his body and slip the hook 
through another little nip of skin, then about an 
inch from the tail end slip the hook through another 
little nip of skin. This gives him two dangling ends 
and a wiggling loop in the center, and in hooking 
him be sure and only slip the hook through a very 
little nip of the skin and not through the entire body, 
which kills 'em and takes their wiggle away from 



WIGGLE O' THE WORM 29 

them. Don't slip the point of the hook into their 
mouth and slide the worm along the hook, covering 
it way up to the shaft; it is not at all necessary to 
hide the hook, what you want to do is preserve the 
wiggle. 

To get the best results from the worm in the hot 
weather, or in fact any kind of weather, they should 
be cleaned or scoured. When you dig 'em out of 
their home grounds they are full of earth and until 
they are cleaned they do not make the best bait. 
The attractive pink color of the clean worm is some- 
thing that makes the wise old fish cross-eyed; it 
makes them scrape their fins to get to it, and it is a 
simple matter to give 'em a cleaning. They should 
be washed as soon as dug up out of the ground. 
Just drop them in a pan of water and stir them 
around or shake roughly, then place them in an 
earthen jar or crock and put in plenty of moss. The 
big point to remember in the " care of the worm " 
is to wring the moss thoroughly so that all the water 
is eliminated. The moss must be kept dry in order 
to extract the moisture from the worms, as this 
toughens them for the hook. It takes from three 
days to a week to clean the worms right. Every 
day during the cleaning stage change the moss and 
throw out the dead or sick worms and feed them a 
slice of bread, broken into small bits, and a couple 
of spoons of milk or cream poured on the moss will 
shape 'em up in fine style. Sounds like a joke to 



30 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

wash and feed your pet worms, but say, old-timer, 
if you have never offered a wiggling pink home- 
raised worm to the finny tribe, there's a jolt of sur- 
prise due you when you do. While you are shaping 
the worms up for the hook, keep the crock in a cool 
place, and if you happen to use an old flower pot, 
be sure and cork the hole in the bottom or you won't 
have any worms to raise. 

The frog as a bait is a sure-fire winner in some 
lakes and streams and in others he only shows up 
with the also-rans. But a good lively frog as a still- 
fishing bait generally gets the bacon, and you have 
to keep your eye on the little cuss or he'll sure fool 
you. After giving him a nice little gentle toss-off 
into the weed-beds you wait for the strike as you 
reel in a bit and let him have a little play; all the 
time, however, he may have been eyeing you from 
some point of vantage, as he has a habit of crawling 
up on a lily pad or windfall and resting there while 
he should be swimming around trying to coax a 
game fin into striking, 'Course you cannot blame 
the frog; it's a sort of a safety first with him, the 
only thing to do is to keep him moving a little, back 
and forth along the bottom. A little dipsey sinker 
or a couple split shot help take him down. The 
smaller, medium-sized frogs, those little white- 
bellied, green-backed ones, make the most attractive 
bait. 



HAIL TO THE SPOON 

Way back when you and I and most of the gang 
were kicking around in knee panties and just break- 
ing out of the kilts, our dads who answered to the 
rollicking call of the lakes and streams were teasing 
the game fins into striking with the spoon. And 
many a big fish has answered to the tantaUzing flash 
of the spoon as it glided, darted or revolved on its 
way through the water. 

Most of the spoons of the early days were of the 
wobbling, darting class; this was just a bit before 
the advent of the more modern idea of spooning, the 
revolving type which is so popular today and justly 
so because these twirling beauties certainly attract 
fish. However, the old-time darters were standbys 
in their day, and many game-fish have made their 
last strike at them. The Old Lobb, shaped a trifle 
longer than the bowl of an ordinary teaspoon; the 
Onondaga, a slim-shaped spoon that darted and re- 
volved at will or as the speed of its movement was 
increased in the water; and the Oneida, a fat-shaped 
spoon that had an erratic dart which followed no 
set route or schedule — all were pets and fish-get- 
ters. 

Many of the old-timers still swear by these old 

31 



32 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

patterns, but a glance in their tackle-box will gen- 
erally show up a couple of the modern beauties 
either fluted, hammered, or plain. The old wob- 
bling, darting spoons have a place in any tackle-box 
and are great little flashers of light as they dart from 
side to side. This makes them very attractive to 
the curious fish, especially the pike, pickerel and 
musky, as they lie in wait for the passing small fish 
upon which they gorge their tummies. The larger 
fish are particularly subject to the fascinating glide 
of the spoon and strike it with a wallop that often 
bends it double. 

One of the earliest spoons of the darting type was 
the Buel spoon, following closely the shape of the 
bowl of the teaspoon, in fact it is claimed that young 
Buel, while washing his dishes at camp one day, ac- 
cidentally let a silver teaspoon drop into the water, 
and as it glided down towards the bottom an over- 
zealous lake trout, that could not resist the scintil- 
lating flashes of light reflected from the spoon, made 
a dart as it and cracked his teeth in the effort. Be- 
ing of an inventive turn of mind, the youngster filed 
the handle off the spoon, drilled a hole in one end, 
to which he attached his line, and in the other end 
he drilled another hole and eyed in a long-shanked 
hook. This simple arrangement caught many fish, 
and for years was the model from which other 
spoons of the early days were patterned. 

A little later, out in the West, an old-time fisher- 



HAIL TO THE SPOON 33 

man of Delevan lake, puttering around his cabin, 
doped up the Delevan spoon by hammering a half- 
dollar piece Into a concave shape with a sort of 
nicked tail at one end and an eyed ring on the other 
side. This old sport of the southern Wisconsin 
lake region eyed on two long-shanked hooks and, 
as minnows and shiners were the accepted bait for 
bass at that time, he hooked a minnow on each of 
the hooks. Trolling out into the lake to go to his 
usual fishing-grounds, he was kept busy hauling In 
the bass and putting on new bait. The fishing with 
the new spoon was so good that he did not find It 
necessary to keep on going until he hit his old spots, 
and when he flashed his string on the unsuspecting 
public and then flashed the new lure on the fishing 
fans he had to cut out fishing himself and hammer 
out these new spoons for the boys of other days. 
This was the beginning of the famous old Delevan 
spoon that has a wonderful string of fish to its credit. 
A few years later, over on the fine old St. Law- 
rence river, G. M. Skinner put a real up-kick into 
the spoon game when he decided that the spoon 
which revolved regularly In one direction was what 
the big fins were really looking for. And to give 
the spoon this steady revolving movement, G. M. 
slipped a few flutes on an oval-shaped brass spoon 
and on the first tryout he hooked up with a wallop- 
ing big musky that snapped his teeth shut with such 
force on the strike that Skinner knew he had made 



34 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

a ten-strike with the new lure and that he had some- 
thing that would make the real old grand-daddy 
of the tribe sit up on his tail and take notice. The 
flutes not only added to the movement of the spoon, 
but also broke up the flash of light from its surface 
so that it shot through the water in a dozen different 
shafts, penetrating the watery recesses in a coax- 
ing way that could not be resisted. 

Up to this time most of the spoons were of large 
size, when along comes John Hildebrandt, one of 
the best-known old-time fly-casters of Indiana, with 
an idea that something ought to be done for the fly- 
fisherman, to add a bit of attractiveness to the fly 
which a lot of bass were passing up, probably be- 
cause they were nearsighted and could not see it. 
Anyway, " Big John," as he was lovingly termed by 
his angling pals, came through with an idea that 
helped make the spoon the attractive bait it is. He 
reduced the size of the spoon greatly, in fact his 
first spoon was made from a hammered dime and a 
bent hairpin. One trial with this little spoon and 
Big John found that the whirling spoon gave an 
added bit of motion to the fly and also the flash of 
light seemed to be just what the big fellows were 
waiting for. The boys of the present day can thank 
John Hildebrandt for pulling down the size of the 
spoon which added it to the casting end of the game, 
where it is just as effective as it ever has been in the 
trolling end. 



MORE ABOUT THE SPOON 

It took the late W. T. J. Lowe of Buffalo to fancy 
up the spoon in gold and silver, and the famous Star 
and Buffalo spoons finished in these metals in beaded 
or plain styles have made a place in spoon line that is 
second to none. While on a trip for musky a few 
years ago I had a very accommodating guide whom 
I wished to remember for his many kindnesses dur- 
ing the trip, so I sent him a couple of the Lowe Star 
spoons as a little friendly token. Two seasons 
later, while in the same locality, I met this old guide 
of former years and was surprised to find him wear- 
ing one of the Lowe spoons as a watch charm. He 
just couldn't toss that gold and silver beauty into 
the water for ordinary fishing, it looked so darned 
fine, he said, that he was going to make a musky hop 
clean out of the water to take it off his watch chain 
if it came to a showdown. 

An interesting bit of information regarding the 
early use of the spoon hook and artificial bait to 
coax the finny tribe out of the deep was brought to 
my attention some time ago by Harry R. Phillips, 
a well-known and popular angler. It is in regard to 
a quotation from a book, " A Voyage to the Pacific 
Ocean for Making Discoveries in the Northern 

35 



36 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Hemisphere," written by Capt. James Cook and 
Capt. James King about the voyages of Captain 
Cook from 1776 to 1780. The quotation is in re- 
gard to the fishing game in the Sandwich islands, 
and from the dope, those old-timers must have been 
some fishermen with their hand-made tackle. So 
that everyone gets a fair chance at the credit for in- 
troducing the spoon hook in the sport 'of fishing, I 
quote the paragraph from this old book published 
in 1796: 

" Their fishing hooks are of various sizes and 
figures; but those which are principally made use of 
are about two or three inches in length and are 
formed in the shape of a small fish, serving as a bait, 
with a bunch of feathers fastened to the head or tail. 
They make these hooks of bone, mother of pearl or 
wood, pointed and barbed with Httle bones or tor- 
toise shell. Those with which they fish for sharks 
are very large, being generally of the length of six 
or eight inches. Considering the materials of which 
these hooks are composed, their neatness and 
strength are amazing; and indeed, upon trial we 
found them superior to our own." Like all fisher- 
men, it is a ten-to-one shot that the boys of the crew 
bought up the entire supply of this new-style bait 
before they left the islands. 

The spoon is a very effective bait and can be used 
with no other adornment than that which the maker 
has endowed it, or it will be found an added at- 



MORE ABOUT THE SPOON 37 

tractiveness when used with any of the natural foods 
of the game fishes, or the artificial substitutes. The 
glittering, flashing whirl of the modern spoon in 
front of a minnow, frog, pork rind or chunk is some- 
thing that awakens the curiosity or anger of most 
any of the game boys. 

For the big old wolves of the waters, the musky, 
pike and pickerel, the spoon has always been a favor- 
ite lure, and now that casting for these bush-whack- 
ers of the weedbeds has become more popular, the 
smaller-sized fluted, pebbled and plain spoons have 
ridden to glory through the great granddads they 
have brought to gaff. About a number three to six 
makes a good-sized casting-spoon for these fish, and 
for trolling, which is the method followed by the 
majority of fishermen in quest of these scrappers, 
the most popular size is number six or eight. The 
main thing in the spoon line is to remember that the 
small-sized spoons have been getting the big fish dur- 
ing the past few years, as they have been used more 
and more by the clan, and that it is not at all neces- 
sary to load up the line with the great big spoons of 
the African war-shield size. 

In using the spoon alone as a casting lure, the 
average fisherman will find it a bit light with the 
short bait-casting rod, and to give it a little more 
heft, tack on a few small split shot or a dipsey sinker. 
Most any likely looking water makes good casting 
with the spoon, and for the pike family off the edges 



38 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

of the weed-beds is a winner. Allow the spoon to 
sink a bit after casting and reel in slowly, just fast 
enough to keep the spoon twirling. And the fellow 
who has a good run of success with the spoon is the 
old scout who fishes it slowly. That is a point in 
the correct use of the spoon that only comes with 
experience, the usual method being to snake it in 
through the water as fast as possible in order to 
throw another cast. The most strikes with the 
spoon alone come when the lure is moving in the 
water and not when it first strikes the surface. I 
have watched, many a time, a large pike follow my 
spoon and then made him come through with a strike 
by giving the slow-moving spoon a slight sidewise 
jerk that gave it a wobble that probably gave the 
fish the impression that he was going to lose some- 
thing if he did not act quick. Slow reeling in of the 
spoon on the cast is just as important as slow trolling 
with the boat. 



PLAYING THE SPOON 

More fish are often lost by hurrying the spoon 
through the water at too great a speed when troUing 
than through any other method of its use. In the 
trolling end it is a very easy thing to slip the boat 
along too fast and rush the spoon right away from 
a lazy old fish as he lolls around waiting for an easy 
piece of feed to slowly kick past him, and a good 
way to keep the speed down is to watch the tip of 
your rod as you troll along. When the tip is bob- 
bing up and down in a slow regular motion you are 
hitting the pace about right, and at the same time 
this is a sure-fire indication that your spoon is revolv- 
ing, which is what it should be doing to attract game 
fish. As soon as the rod slips into a steady pull 
without any bobbing, you will save time and prob- 
ably fish by reeling in and shaking loose the bunch 
of weeds picked up by the hook. Weeds are a neces- 
sary evil in the spoon-troUer's life, because the fish 
are among the weeds and to get them it is necessary 
to ride your spoon down deep in the water where 
the fish are loafing in order to get 'em. The surface 
troUer never has half the chance of the underwater 
sport when it comes to landing a good-sized string. 

In making a selection of spoons, you have a col- 

39 



40 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

lection of nearly every shape and size to pick from. 
They come in nickel, brass, copper, aluminum, and 
pearl. Some are decorated with a dash of red, 
others jet black or white. I have found the white 
enameled spoon a very attractive lure and a word 
in favor of the pearl wobbling spoons is well de- 
served by that particular spoon. Many fishermen 
have passed up the pearl spoon, probably because 
it seems frail and not strong enough to hold a large 
fish without breaking, and thus have overlooked a 
good bet in the angling derby. Then again, it may 
be from the fact that the pearl spoons have not 
been tooted as much in the present day as in the past. 
I have never had a pearl spoon break while landing 
a fish, and have brought to gaff quite a few pike and 
bass with this old-time bait. In certain waters it has 
proven a lifesaver, and for evening fishing its blue- 
white flash has been the last call of quite a few game 
fins. It is particularly good for the October bass 
fishing when trolling for these fish is often produc- 
tive of a fine string. 

You will naturally stock up with more of the mod- 
ern revolving spoons than any other, because they 
are made right and have a rep for landing the fish, 
but it is well to shuffle a few of the long-shaped wob- 
bling, darting spoons in the tackle-box, the same old 
spoons that were favorites with the anglers of other 
days. These spoons are not only effective because 
they have an erratic movement in the water and cast 



PLAYING THE SPOON 41 

their light shafts to great distance, but they also 
make a good casting-spoon without much fluttering 
in the wind. They are good for bass, pike, pickerel 
and musky and for wall-eyed pike and lake trout 
they make a humdinger of a bait. They are espe- 
cially good in stream fishing and on a rough day on 
lake waters. 

As a general thing the condition of the waters you 
fish will determine the color of spoon you use ; how- 
ever, in an off-hand choice, you could make it a cop- 
per spoon on a bright sunny day with a clear calm 
water, while on a cloudy day, with the surface 
broken and rough, the brass, nickel or silver spoons 
are usually more killing. For the dark days and 
marly waters I have found the white enameled spoon 
one that makes 'em sit up and take notice. A spoon 
that is too bright and shiny when used on a clear day 
will send such a flashing signal through the water 
that the wise old birds of the underwaters never even 
give it a thought; in fact, it seems to scare them. In 
order to make a spoon more attractive I have let 
them accumulate quite a dirty, tarnished appearance, 
and then to give them a bit of a fishy look have 
shined them just a trifle in a striped effect, somewhat 
Hke a perch. A spoon used this way will some- 
times make a killing on a bright day. 

Taken all around, the spoon as a fish attracter 
stands high in the annals of fishing; some of the 
largest fish ever landed in the different species have 



42 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

answered to the luring flash of the twirling teaser. 
It is a bait that can be used throughout the entire 
season with good results, and to this old-time mem- 
ber of the tackle-kit we doff the lid, because it will 
do its share in getting the fish if you give it half a 
chance. 



FALL FISHIN' 

There is no time in the entire fishing season that 
is more delightful than the fall or autumn, and at 
that, old-timer, the big game fins have more scrap 
tied up in their tails in the cool of the fall than they 
have in the warm summer days. 

The early spring fishing is generally on a par with 
the fall sport. After the water feels the cooling 
effect of the fall days and the frosty nights, its tem- 
perature slips down a bit and the gay tail-kickers 
become inoculated with a bunch of pep that puts 
ginger in their fight. 

And the woods and all outdoors seem to be doing 
their best to show off the wonderful beauty of na- 
ture, just to slip a fellow the info that it is not all 
of fishing merely to fish. After the first frost has 
nipped the leaves and they have changed to count- 
less shades of yellow and orange, with the golden 
tints and dashes of red standing out in patches 
against the darker green of the pines, then between 
casts we can drift along and thank the nine gods 
that we are on the water trails in the fall. 

The hot days of July and August have been shot 
into the discard, and with them all the thousands of 

43 



44 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

insect pests that Increase the cussin' average of the 
fishing gentry as they try to interest the lazy fins in 
a varied assortment of baits and lures. 

And another thing in favor of the fall game is 
that you do not have to arise before the sun in order 
to get to the fishing water while the fish are still 
in the shallows feeding, nor do you have to wait 
until dusk or darker to take a cast at them with some 
chance of finding them in a striking humor. 

The bass and wall-eyed-pike slip into the shallows 
most any time of the day in the fall to feed on the 
minnows and frogs, and also to enjoy the warmer 
water along shore. 

And the musky, the old roughneck of the water 
recesses, has a strong set of teeth in fine shape for 
striking purposes, while the gums of the pike and 
pickerel have passed through the sore, swollen stage 
of August and these fish have an appetite that they 
are willing to satiate on anything from a spoon to 
a cedar plug. 

In September the game fish come back strong 
after the dull and sluggish days of summer, when 
they have been devoting most of the daylight hours 
to a lazy siesta on the bottom In the deep, cool pools, 
and with the cooler days of October, and even up 
into the snows of November, you can select most 
any kind of a plug or lure and stand a good chance 
of landing the big ones. The colder waters seem to 
make 'em want to fight the highly colored artificials 



""SBSF; 



Do you recall a day in camp when the game fish seemed to»be 
off the feed and neither you nor the pals can raise a strike — then 
you happen to get 'em coming and things brighten up on the instant. 
But Oh! boy — when you come up the trail with a fair stringer and 
the pals greet you with smiles, enjoying your triumph even Avhen 
things broke bad for them — then, fellow, you know the real joys of 
the water trails. Good pals in the woods and on the waters are 
jewels to be cherished. Incidently the large bass in the foreground 
dangling on the stringer of Don Leigh? Fishing editor of the Chicago 
Evening Journal, weighed six and a half pounds and was landed by 
Mr. Leigh with a Pflueger-Surprise Minnow, rainbow color, the rod 
was a Jim Heddon number IS, one piece construction, long tip and 
short butt, giving good play without the restraint of a ferrule to 
cut down the action. 



FALL FISHIN' 45 

out of pure cussedness, and they wallop the plug with 
a strike that often sends it high in the air. 

At this time casting for the game boys is the real 
dope. It gets them in the waters close inshore, and 
the splash of the lure simply makes them more 
anxious to get to it. The fish are right on edge and 
keenly alive to what's going on in their home waters. 
In this nature assists them by keeping the waters 
clearer than at any other time of the year. The 
lakes have passed through the blooming stage and 
all of the underwater vegetation has cast its seed and 
settled down for the winter, while the rivers and 
streams are at a flowage that is not subject to the 
thaws and freshets of the spring and summer. This 
all assists the fish to the extent that they can see to 
a greater distance, and more caution and skill is nec- 
essary and a longer cast required than earlier in the 
season. 

For an artificial for fall fishing for bass, makes a 
selection of the standard-sized lures of the minnow 
shape, and for the small-mouth bass, particularly, 
the midget-sized plugs sure are killers. In the mat- 
ter of colors, the all white with a bit of red is fine 
for the darker days and the rainbow or green- 
backed, white-bellied lure for the sunny days. Al- 
though a fellow does not have to be so finicky as to 
the color, shape, or style, as the bass have just 
enough pep and cussedness to take a crack at most 
anything moving in the water. 



46 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

The wall-eyed pike are sure fond of the green- 
backed minnow, and they are in the deeper pools 
generally, although when they do come into the shal- 
lower water you have to send your lure down to 
them, as they are always bottom feeding, and for 
that reason the lure should be of the underwater 
variety and not a surface or semisurface. 

The wall-eye is a mighty hungry fish at all times, 
and especially in the fall he is on the drive for a 
feed. Even up into the cooler days of November 
he makes a conscientious biter. 

Although the wall-eye answers to the call of the 
artificial plug in the fall, don't for a minute over- 
look his favorite dish, the minnow, and of all the 
minnow family that tickles his palate, the mud min- 
now from the small streams is the bait that makes 
him jump through the hoop to get it. 

A small spinner adds to the attractiveness of the 
minnow, its flash shooting into the far reaches of the 
underwater nooks and crevices. 



FALL BAITS 

The minnow and frog are great little live baits 
for the fall bass, and when hooked on a weedless 
hook can be lightly tossed over among the weeds. 
And take it from Uncle, old-timer, that's where you 
get 'em. 

The spring-raised frog has just about grown up 
to where he is a fine tender morsel for the bass, and 
these wily old game fins flirt around among the lily 
pads and weeds watching for the luckless frog as he 
kicks his way through the water. Cast the frog 
with an easy toss, so that he will land lightly and 
not with the long sweep of the plug cast. A cast of 
20 or even 15 feet into the weeds is plenty and keeps 
the frog lively after he lands. 

Let the frog sink a bit, then reel in slowly for a 
couple of turns of the reel handle, then a slow-up for 
a few seconds so that it will sink again, and then 
another slow reeling, and thus work the frog out 
through the weeds as though he were on his way 
home for a feed. Don't be afraid to shoot the cast 
right into the weeds and especially close up along 
shore, as that is where the bass are generally feed- 
ing, particularly in the morning or afternoon. Flirt- 
ing with the outer edges of the feedbeds will not 

47 



48 FISHING, TACKI.E AND KITS 

bring half as many strikes as going right in for them. 

The Shannon twin spinner baited with a pork- 
rind strip makes a crackerjack fall bass lure for the 
weedbeds, as it is weedless and at the same time has 
two spinners that revolve right above the point of 
the hook, which eliminates all chances of short 
strikes. You can throw this bait right into a mass 
of weeds and it rides back free and clear without 
trailing along a ton of weeds. 

As the October days come along there is one 
dainty of the bass diet that has become scarce and 
therefore is highly prized as an appetizer by the 
lucky bass that finds one, and this natural food is the 
crawfish. The soft-shelled crawfish feels the bite of 
the frost and digs into the mud and sand bottoms for 
his winter hibernation, and only a few of the huskier 
hard-shelled fellows are stirring around. These 
tough-shelled old crawfish are too hard for any but 
the largest bass to masticate, and the medium-sized 
bass are crazy for a bite of the white meat of the 
food that they have feasted on during the season. 

The fact that crawfish have become scarce seems 
to whet the appetite for them, as is the case with any 
food that has become scarce. When a natural food 
becomes scarce, an imitation of that food is, as a 
rule, more liable to be successful than at any other 
time. The Heddon's baby crab wiggler, which is 
an imitation of the crawfish, is a very taking lure for 
October. 



FALL BAITS 49 

Of all the fish that are on their fighting mettle in 
the cooler days of the fall, the musky, pike and pick- 
erel are sure there with the kick in their tails, and 
they seem to be full of the old Nick, the way they 
range around looking for something to pick a scrap 
with. And after they do strike, the fight they put 
up will give you a bit of rapid-fire action that will 
make the blood tingle and the nerves do a series of 
jumps that will give you thrills enough to last 
through the winter until the next season comes 
around. 

There is one lure that makes these old rough- 
necks see double to get at, and that is the spoon. 
This is the old reliable standby trolling dope for the 
fish of this species, and with a good-sized shiner, 
sucker, or frog hooked on behind a Lowe-Star 
spoon, it's an easy bet that you can interest the big 
fellows. Casting with a smaller minnow or shiner 
and a No. 3 sized Hildebrandt spinner makes a com- 
bination that the musky cannot resist. 

Troll in water about six to ten feet deep along 
the edges of the weedbeds and over the underwater 
weeds, also over the rock bed and points of land 
that run out into the water, as well as the quiet coves 
and bays, and keep the boat moving just enough to 
twirl the spoon. Fast trolling has killed more 
chances at getting the fish than any other angle of 
the sport; you don't want to pull the bait away from 
the fish. Take a slant at the tip of your rod, and if 



50 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the tip Is bobbing regularly you know that the spoon 
is turning around In the water. Should the bob- 
bing of the tip stop, you can figure that you have 
picked up a lay-out of weeds, and the only thing to 
do is to reel In and take 'em off the hook, as the fish 
are not going to dig through a bunch of weeds to 
strike a lure. 



MORE FALL BAITS 

Don't overlook the pork-rind strip or chunk in the 
mad rush for the fall game fins. This is a capital 
lure for any of the game fish at this time and works 
well with a weedless hook and spinner. The Al. 
Foss pork-rind minnow, the Prescott spinner hook 
and the Becker-Sheward Been-there spinner work 
well among the weeds for bass. 

Tack a little red flannel cloth at the head of the 
pork-rind strip, or tie a bit of red yarn on it, and 
the lure will be more effective. It seems that this 
combination of the wiggling pork rind with a little 
red to set off the white of the rind has a teasing ef- 
fect on the humor of the bass. 

While the bass come into the shore shallows dur- 
ing September to feed, you will still find them in the 
deeper pools if the day be one of bright sunlight 
and warm. If such is the case, seek out the same 
old holes you fished during the warm days of sum- 
mer and take a shot at the bass in these waters. 
Trolling deep through these holes with a minnow 
and the line weighted with a heavy sinker that will 
take it away down to the bottom where the fish are, 
will usually bring a stringer of nice-sized fish. 

Trolling for bass on a cloudy day is likely to be 
SI 



52 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

more successful with a small spoon; this is particu- 
larly so when the bass are in the shallows, and for 
the fellow who tires of throwing the festive casts 
the trolHng game is a good bet, especially for Sep- 
tember. 

The minnow-shaped spoon of either silver or 
pearl is quite a taking lure for the bass troll, and I 
favor the pearl under the circumstances, as its green- 
ish blue flash is somewhat similar in tint to the sides 
of the minnow. These pearl spoons are quite light 
and ride high in the water, the decided curve to the 
spoon also keeping it near the surface. To over- 
come this high-riding, wobbling lure, tack on a keel 
sinker, which will also keep the lin«e from twisting 
and kinking. 

The ordinary brass or nickled spoons are attrac- 
tive trollers and I have always found them better 
if used a bit tarnished and not highly polished. 
And while shuffling up the spoon deck, don't over- 
look for a minute, old scout, the Pflueger-Tandem 
spinner. This finish to the spinner is a winner in 
most any kind of water and makes a decided hit in 
waters where the white artificial plugs have been 
successfully used. 

Troll about ten feet under water and most any 
shore waters are good for trolling for bass in Sep- 
tember. A good average depth for trolling is in 
about 20 feet of water. Real trolling for bass is 
not merely to drag a bait or lure through the water 



MORE FALL BAITS 53 

at any old speed or depth, but this end of the sport 
should be given as much attention by the angler as 
casting or any other style of fishing. 

The amount of line out and the speed of the boat 
controls the depth at which the bait rides, and when 
you get a strike make it a point to remember the 
length of line and the speed of the boat and keep 
about that average, as the strike indicates the depth 
at which the fish are feeding, and that's the place 
you are likely to find the next one. 

A bit of pep can be added to the trolling game by 
the use of a steel fly-rod. Of course the rod should 
be straight out behind the boat to reduce the strain, 
as it has not enough back-bone to stand the continued 
pull of the lure. When you get a strike with a 
fly-rod and about 40 feet of line out, with a husky 
bronze-backer at the business end of the line, it is 
sure sport to play him with a whippy, long fly-rod. 
To the fellow who passes up trolling with the short 
five-foot rod as a sport without any kick, just take a 
flier at the game with the fly-rod. 

A bait that has been in a way overlooked by a 
big bunch of fishermen is the Phantom minnow. 
This lure in the silver or gold color makes a high- 
class underwater bait. In using it, however, a little 
above the average speed can be given to the boat, 
as the Phantom rides very deep in the water. 

There is a style of fishing called " jigging " that 
is practiced by the settlers in the North woods coun- 



54 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

try when they want to be sure of getting fish for a 
meal. They cut a pole about fifteen feet long and 
use a line about five feet longer than the pole and 
bait up an ordinary sproat hook with a minnow or 
frog. With this rig they let the boat drift across 
a weed-bed or along the shore line and across the 
entrance of a small cove from point to point, keep- 
ing the bait about a foot above the bottom, sounding 
the bottom every now and then so that they are sure 
of the bait riding at the right depth. This stunt 
can be worked with the long steel fly-rod and It is 
even more effective if you put a medium weighted 
coneshaped sinker on the end of the line and attach 
a three-foot leader with your bait at the end of the 
leader. In this way the sinker can ride the bot- 
tom all the time and not affect the bait, keeping It at 
the right depth all the time. 

Of the fall fishing time, September Is a mighty 
big improvement over the hot old August days, but, 
without a doubt, October shines as a month in which 
the game-fishing is full of dash and pep on the part 
of the fish, even If the angler does feel like playing 
close to the cabin fire. To really feel the fight par 
excellence of the bass, give him the once over after 
the frost has nipped the leaves and he Is on the 
hurry-up hunt for food to pack away and fatten him- 
self up for the winter's hibernation. 



FALL MUSKY FISHING 

Without a doubt, old-timer, the real kicking fight 
of the musky reaches full development in the fall, 
and the latter part of September and the entire 
month of October hold forth great promise for 
the gay " muskyteer " in his effort to bag this 
gamest of the game. And besides the fact 
that the musky is a more consistent striker in the 
fall, he also is a more strenuous fighter and gives 
the lucky angler a run for his money that sets the 
nerves on edge and the jumps on a race up the ver- 
tebra with a few extra thrills thrown in when the 
game cuss stands up on his tail and sends the spoon 
through the air with a rapid-fire shake of his huge 
body. 

This throwing of the spoon bait by the musky 
when he breaks water and makes his wonderful 
shake is not merely an idle tale from the musky 
waters. All he needs is a bit of slack and a chance 
to shake and unless the angler is quick to reel in the 
slack, it is a simple trick for the musky to throw the 
bait. And by the way it is no disgrace to fall the 
victim of a wise old bird like the musky and have 
him disconnect in this manner. I know of one 
clever caster who can place his cast with a fineness 

55 



56 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

that makes his casting the envy of many fishermen, 
and who had a fine old buck musky toss his spoon 
bait 30 feet through the air with such force that it 
left a beautiful black and blue bruise on his chest 
where it happened to land. 

THE EASY-CHAIR ANGLER 

Some of the wise chaps at the fishing game, who 
never lost a musky after hooking it, to hear them tell 
it, have a lot to learn from these husky freshwater 
free-booters. Lying back off the edge of a weed- 
bed, somewhere, there is an old, long-whiskered 
musky that has doped out a new trick or two that 
can probably even make these past masters in fishing 
talk strip their gears if they connect up with him. 
Or, old-timer, in other words, when you hook up 
with a high-volted bushwhacker of the watery re- 
cesses, you never know just what he will pull on you 
in the way of tricky action until the fight is over and 
the musky either brought to gaff or lost until next 
time. That's the very reason why some of the boys 
are confirmed musky fishermen and pass up the fast 
scrapping bass for a wallop at the big fellows. 

As a general thing the musky will make his first 
run after the strike, on a hunt for the weeds or 
other underwater refuge where he can hide or tear 
out the hook with its stinging point. If he has a 
chance to make deep water he will go down deep 
and fuss around on the bottom trying to rub out the 



FALL MUSKY FISHING 57 

bait and in a case of this kind he will seldom break 
water until you work him towards the surface. In 
the fall, however, you find him again in the shallower 
waters and here you can look for a jump up out of 
the water quickly after the strike. The musky 
caught in the shallow water, say from five to fifteen 
feet, may even break water as often as eight or ten 
times during the fight, and the smaller muskies seem 
to jump up into the air more often than the real big 
old-timers. The old fellows are more likely to 
avoid the jump than the younger musky, as they 
develop a shyness with age and prefer to stay down 
out of sight If possible. 

SMALLER MUSKY SNAPPY FIGHTER 

For a rattling good fight, full of action and pep, 
the smaller musky, say ten to fifteen pounds, puts up 
a rapid, strenuous battle, some of the boys prefer- 
ring this game to the larger ones, although they don't 
make as handsome a mounting, nor give one the 
opportunity to salve up a story full of thrills like 
the big roughneck of the tribe. Taken anyway you 
look at it, the small, powerful musky is a great piece 
of sport when landed on light bass tackle via the 
casting route. 

One of the largest musky landed this season never 
broke water during a fight of nearly an hour and a 
half. Once he did come up to the surface and make 
a swirling curve In which his dorsal fin and tail 



58 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

cleared the water. His main fight consisted of long 
runs of a hundred to a hundred and twenty-five feet, 
the battle of musky wile vs. tackle skill taking place 
in water with a depth of 25 feet and over. 

OFTEN SPRINGS NEW TRICKS 

Until you land the musky you hook, you can never 
know just what line of getaway stuff he pulls. He 
may corkscrew back on the line, twisting it around 
his tail and then with a snap of the tail breaking the 
line with the leverage thus secured; he may make a 
fast run towards the boat and before you reel in the 
slack, hit the air and throw the hook; he may shoot 
under the boat and tear the line on the bottom or 
there are dozens of little angles to his fight that may 
give him his liberty and the knowledge that the 
musky family have a great bunch of tricks tied up 
in their system should put the musky fisherman on 
his guard to outpoint the game rascals by clever, 
quick work from the rod end of the sport. 

A favorite casting bait is the sucker, about an 
eight or ten-inch black sucker sure makes 'em 
nervous, and you certainly can coax them to strike 
this lure. Usually the musky gorges a live sucker 
and when you strike him, the hook is generally well 
down the gullet and you set it sharply in a tender 
spot. I think that this pain takes a bit of the kick- 
ing fight out of the musky and that they are easier 
to land than when hooked on the pork chunk or spoon. 



FALL MUSKY FISHING 59 

The pork chunk for musky casting should be 
about twice as large as the size on the market for 
bass casting and also a trifle longer than wide. A 
pork chunk of this kind, tacked onto a No. i-o 
Lowe-Star spoon makes a cracking good cast for 
the musky, and when you hook 'em with it the hook 
generally sets in the front of the mouth, and when 
hooked this way, they fight like a " helyon " to throw 
it out. In the matter of plugs for this game fellow, 
the usual bass lures make more effective baits than 
the large wooden affairs touted as the best bet in the 
game. No matter what bait you use, to get musky, 
you must stick to the game until you locate 'em and 
not branch off on the bass casting end. 



STREAM-RAISED SMALL-MOUTH 
BASS 

After returning from the last fishing trip, we play- 
ers of the singing reel and arching rod, followers 
of the lake and stream water trails, are generally 
looking ahead to the next one and planning for this 
foray on the gamy tail kickers and their relatives. 
While far from the rustle of the gurgling stream 
and lap of the wind-tossed lake waters, most any 
kind of fishing looks good to us, and even the pet 
goldfish in the globe in the sun parlor are sure taking 
chances of being yanked into the air on a bent pin or 
a midge trout fly. 

We like our bit of bait casting, shooting the plug 
or natural bait off on its curved flight to the weed 
bed or pocket in the lily pads where the large mouth 
lingers and the pike and musky lie in wait for the 
passing smaller fishes upon which they gorge. We 
like the bit of stream wading, tossing the live bait 
here and there among the likely looking brush heaps 
and windfalls and into the deep pools. We even 
hke to sit out in the sun and take a shot at still fishing 
with live bait, letting it sink down to the spring holes 
where the game fins have gone for a rest in the 
cooler waters. 

(So 



STREAM-RAISED SMALL-MOUTH BASS 6i 

And we are not ashamed to take a try at the little 
pan fish with the fly or a gob of worms, especially 
when all the big fellows seem to be off the feed or 
in such a humor that they fail to notice the seemingly 
endless selection of artificial and natural baits we 
offer them. And from all these varied manners of 
angling we draw forth the enjoyment and charm of 
fishing which touches our heart strings, and the 
thought of these past experiences merely whets our 
appetite for new lakes and streams to conquer; 
makes us able to endure the coming winter until 
spring again floats in with the greening up of the 
naked trees and opening of the trout streams for our 
first effort of the new-born season. 

Looking back over the entire deck of the fishing 
game and recalling many pleasant days on lake and 
stream with the different game fighters that live in 
the watery recesses of the undertakes and river beds, 
I feel like passing the blue ribbon to the small-mouth 
bass fly fishing on the running streams as the snap- 
piest sport in the whole layout. For real fishing, a 
day on a stream with these little bronze, red-eyed 
scrappers is a bit of sport to be remembered. And 
going after him with the fly with its single hook gives 
him a chance to make full use of his combative power 
to give you a fight that will teem with thrills before 
you safely net him or he gives you a saucy kick of the 
tail as a farewell salute as he makes his getaway. 

To tell an old scout of the fly-tossing brigade what 



62 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

weight and length of fly rod to use is foolhardy; he 
has his own pet weights and to these he sticks like a 
" helyon; " but for the beginner at the sport a split 
bamboo of say nine and a half feet and a weight 
of five or six ounces is right and will prove effective 
for small-mouth bass fishing. This weight rod will 
be good for all-round use, and in the fast streams 
there are many times when the sheer strength of 
bamboo and line must be relied upon, although in 
wading the slower streams no fly rod seems too light, 
as you have more time to fight the fish, and taking 
your time, giving the rod a chance to wear down 
the bronze backer with its pressure, will eventually 
bring your fish to net after a wonderful fight. 

An interesting fact in the fight of the militant 
bronze-backed warrioi is that he has a habit of se- 
lecting his own fighting waters, and he will make for 
them regardless of the chances he runs. He may 
decide to fight it out in the swiftest part of the 
stream, or, after walloping the fly, he sometimes 
makes a drive for the bottom, there to rub the sting- 
ing feathery hook from his mouth. Unable to reach 
the safety refuge of the snags and rocks on the 
bottom that he knows so well, he will speedily change 
his tactics for the swifter current, making frantic 
leaps into the air on the slightest indication of a bit 
of slack in the line and then lying across the stream, 
take advantage of the flow of the stream against his 
curved back. He's playing a game to his liking and 



STREAM-RAISED SMALL-MOUTH BASS 63 

you have your work cut out for you before you land 
him. 

All these joys and thrills of the battle royal can 
be had in fishing for him with the ordinary wet fly 
of standard pattern and design, or with the newer 
hair flies which are particularly kilUng for the 
stream-raised small-mouth. 



THE FLOATING BASS BUG 

To the keen sport of tossing the feathery fancies 
to the small-mouth has been added the thrills of dry 
fly fishing. Not the ordinary cocked feathery 
winged floating fly of the trout fisherman, but a sure 
honest-to-goodness floater designed entirely for the 
bass fisherman. This fly, in reality, is not a fly as 
one terms the flies of the trouter; it is more of a 
bug, miller or moth, and it has a cork body that 
keeps it on the surface at all times while the wings 
and tail are a combination of feathers and bucktall. 

When the bass are on the rise, making the surface 
for the unlucky hopper or butterfly that happens to 
misjudge his distances and light on the water, then 
the floating bass bug certainly shines as the greatest 
lure that ever helped send the jumps up the back- 
bone. During the past two or three years the bass 
bug has been given the once over on many streams 
by some of the best-known fly casters in the game, 
and the verdict has been unanimous in the judgment 
that it has added an angle to the bass fly-fishing game 
that increases the joy of the sport lOO per cent. 

These bass bugs are great little workers on fast 
water, and are generally nshed diagonally up and 
across the stream and then allowed to float down 

64 



THE FLOATING BASS BUG 65 

with the current, and the long streaming tails and 
hackles of bucktail hair have a wonderfully lively 
wiggle as they make their way downstream; fact is 
the bass simply cannot keep from making a rush at 
these floating bugs. 

In a way the floating bass flies are not entirely 
new, as we have had Jamison's Coaxer Floating 
Flies for both bass and trout for a number of years, 
and these old-timers in the floating line are a mighty 
successful lure for the game bass; however, the bass 
bugs are different in that the body is smaller and 
shaped like the body of a bee or bug and tapering 
down to a point in some cases with the addition of 
the bucktail hairs, while the Coaxer flies are tailed 
with feathers exclusively. 

As is always the case with something new that has 
made good with a kick, and particularly when that 
something has anything to do with the sporting 
game, who made the first one and who introduced it 
to the game is a mooted question that is walloped 
around the ring until the poor cuss goes down, with 
the count. 

Will Dilg of Chicago, a well-known and skillful 
bass fly-caster, in a recent article in a sporting maga- 
zine credits Mr. B. F. Wilder of the Butterick com- 
pany, New York city, with tying the first dry fly to 
take bass on the Upper Mississippi, these flies being 
used with wonderful success by Mr. Dilg in this fly 
fisherman's paradise in the fall of 19 16. 



66 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Hon. Carter H. Harrison, former mayor of Chi- 
cago, and a noted fly fisherman who has cast his fly 
in many waters, has this to say about the hair fly 
in the Wabasha waters of the Upper Mississippi: 
" For many years I have not been guilty of using 
bait in fishing, but I am free from conscientious 
scruples against hitching my fly to a small spinner 
when fishing for large trout or bass. 

" Several years ago a St. Louis fisherman intro- 
duced the ' Mississippi bug ' to these waters, a good- 
sized doodle bug tied with deer hair and black thread 
in imitation of a crawfish. To the simon-pure fly 
fisherman this critter is an abomination. Hitched 
to a spinner with a blade the size of a dime, it just 
about sets the average bass crazy. When the bass 
refuse to rise to the ordinary fly, I offer them the 
bug. Naturally I prefer the plain fly; it is a more 
sportsmanlike lure, and besides there is a rare pleas- 
ure in feeling the snap of a bass at a fly of your own 
tying. For years I have made my own flies. But 
if the bass show no hankering for flies I use the 
spinner and bug." 

No doubt the St. Louis fisherman referred to by 
Mr. Harrison was Walter C. Taylor, one of the 
cleverest stream bass fishermen of the Middle West. 
In introducing the floating bass fly to the Upper Mis- 
sissippi waters, Mr. Taylor used a Wyman hair fly 
which he had paraffined, one somewhat similar to 
the fly which is credited with over seventy small- 



THE FLOATING BASS BUG 67 

mouth bass in two days from the St. Francis and the 
Varner rivers in Missouri. Mr. Taylor having 
landed the seventy fish being a true sportsman, how- 
ever, it is needless to say that the big majority of 
these fish were returned to the water uninjured. 



SOME BASS BUGS 

Going a little deeper into the floating bass bug 
matter, I have the following from Mr. Edward Wy- 
man, sportsman, angler, and big-game hunter, who 
is the real daddy of the modern hair fly. 

" The dry fly for taking bass has recently come 
into high favor in some districts where at times 
their merit has been established. As a rule of prac- 
tice. It is probably true that, for consistent results, 
the wet fly, well sunken, will take more fish, whether 
it be bass or trout, and one is convinced that the suc- 
cess that some men have with artificial minnows and 
other engines of warfare, used by bait casters, is 
due principally to their being taken to the notice of 
the fish by gravitation. 

" The season of the year and the controlling con- 
ditions must determine the desirability of surface 
flies. Some time back, Walter C. Taylor of St. 
Louis used one of my hair flies on the Upper Mis- 
sissippi, having paraffined the fly for a floater. On 
the occasion of its first use he had tried everything 
he had in his well-stocked kit, without any results, 
and as a last resort used the paraflined hair fly. 
With this fly he took seven fine bass in short order. 
This was at Alma, and Hank Hennings, the famous 
river guide, was with Mr. Taylor. 

68 



SOME BASS BUGS 69 

" It has been said, ' a bass will take anything,' 
but if there is a more capricious fish than the small- 
mouth bass, one has never heard it named." 

No doubt, the Wyman hair fly should be given 
some credit for interesting anglers in the dry fly for 
small-mouth bass, and for which thought the fishing 
clan can be thankful, as these floaters are certainly 
winners in enticing the game fins to the surface strike, 
which is the most thrilling manner in which a fish 
takes a lure. I recall an experience of some three 
years ago in which I had eleven surface strikes from 
husky bass in about forty-five minutes, and all of 
these bass made a swirling strike, cutting the water 
with their dorsal fin and hitting the Surprise-Minnow 
an awful smack. Some of the bass started cutting 
through the water before the bait hit the surface, 
and of all the fishing experiences that come back to 
me in the off days, I figure these rapid-fire actors the 
most exciting bass that have answered to the call of 
my bait. 

Claude C. Refner, a well-known Chicago bass 
fisherman, ties a wonderful bass bug, following the 
coloring of some of the best known standard de- 
signs, the most popular of which are the following: 
Peet's Favorite, white body, brown stripes, white 
tail and wings: Dilg's Gem, orange, brown body, 
black stripes, brown and gray tail, brown turkey 
wings; Clarke's Fancy, white body, red tail and 
wings; Zane Grey, gray body, striped tail and wings; 



70 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Carter Harrison, brown body, yellow stripes, fox 
squirrel tail and wings; Wilder's Discovery, yellow 
body, red stripes, red and white tail; Doctor Hen- 
shall, brown body, red stripes, brown tail, red and 
white wings. Dixie Carroll, white body, black 
stripes, golden pheasant wings and tail. These pat- 
terns have been standardized and are recognized as 
bass bugs that will meet conditions of practically any 
waters, in addition to which many different color 
combinations known to be particularly attractive to 
Mr. Bass are made up. Bill Huston of Mimeiska, 
Minn., one of the best-known bass fishermen, says 
that Ref's bugs have the regular flies skinned a mile 
and that he never had so much sport in all his fishing 
days as he had when watching the old bass busting 
the water like a charge of dynamite hitting those 
bugs. 

Call J. McCarty, all round champion caster at the 
Newark tournament in 19 16, ties a bass bug that 
is a wonderfully good lure and his dragon fly is 
something that makes a bass stand right up on his 
toes to get a chance to snap it off the surface. 

One of the best all round bugs that I have ever 
used for bass and rainbow trout is a clever hair bug 
tied by Orley C. Tuttle, one of the keenest fishermen 
of the Fulton chain in the Adirondacks. Orley's 
" Devil Bug," as he calls it, sort of resembles a 
small mouse and the lively wiggling bucktail hairs 
from which it is tied, certainly have an enticing 



SOME BASS BUGS 71 

movement in the water that any self-respecting bass 
cannot resist. What the bass really think this devil 
bug is, I make no guess, but they have a fatal desire 
to give it a walloping crack like the loving kiss of a 
pile driver. This season I had Orley tie me a larger 
size for musky, and it proved equally as good for 
these game huskies. Used, of course, with a spoon 
as a helper, I had much keen sport with this bug, 
casting for musky and I am willing to play a stack 
of whites, that, as the hair fly and bug become better 
known as a musky bait, many of the clan will find 
much pleasure from using it for these big rough- 
necks of the water terrain. 

E. H. Peckinpaugh of Chattanooga, Tenn., ties 
a rattling good bass bug in many of the old line 
standard patterns that have been so successful here- 
tofore in wet fly fishing for bass, and these bugs 
certainly are attractive to the game ones. The 
Coachman, Silver Doctor, Yellow Sally and many 
others as tied by " Peck " have far more pep in at- 
tracting the bass as a floating bass bug than they 
have had in the past in the old style fly. 

All of which goes to show that the floating bass 
bug is here to stay and that it sure brings home the 
bacon. And at the same time it seems to make the 
bass crazy to get at it, just wakens every bit of pep 
they have and makes 'em charge it like a bull going 
for a red cloth. They take to it like a duck takes 
to water, and after they get hooked it makes 'em 



72 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

sore as the dickens for falling for the bug. Prob- 
ably that's why they put up such a kicking fight to 
get loose from it. 



FACTS ABOUT THE BASS 

The basses, both large and small-mouth, are with- 
out doubt the most voracious of the fresh-water 
game fins and besides that they have more speed 
when in search of their prey than any of the other 
fishes and to satiate an appetite that seems to be un- 
limited, they are on the forage for food most of 
the time. 

The basses are a hardy race of tailkickers and 
they are scrappers from the earliest moments of 
their lives. To these two facts, we tossers of the 
fly and bait can thank the gods of the great outdoors 
for the large number of bass that are found all over 
this little old country. 

And to another good point of the basses we can 
give thanks and that is the family instinct which 
makes the bass, both the old daddy of the odd thou- 
sands of youngsters and the mother, zealously pro- 
tect the young flappers until they are able to skirm- 
ish around and hold up their own end. As long as 
the little cusses stick together around the home nest 
in a bunch, the parent fish guard them with a watch- 
ful eye and a set of spikes that can cut their way 
through any enemy, but let the youngsters assert 
their independence and strike out for themselves, 

7Z 



74 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

and it's a ten to one shot that they are more likely 
to be eaten by their own parents than by any of the 
waiting enemies in the outside waters. 

The spawning season for the bass varies as to dif- 
ferent localities and is often affected by the condi- 
tion of the season. A late cold spring will set it 
back considerable, while an early warm spring ad- 
vances it somewhat. In the South the spawning 
generally begins in March and in the middle and 
Eastern states it begins about the first week in May 
and extends into July, as a. rule the large-mouth start 
spawning about two weeks after the small-mouth. 

The small-mouth build their nests in the gravel 
or rocky bottoms as a preference or on a sandy or 
clay bottom as a second choice, while the large-mouth 
prefer to nest on the roots of the under-water plants. 
These fish bungalows are located in a foot or two of 
water, because the water in the shallows near shore 
is warmer than in the deeper pools and the sun gets 
a chance to shoot some of its heat into the nest. 
One family of a pair of bass certainly runs up into 
figures, they are great little anti-race suicide advo- 
cates. They average about 7,000 youngsters to 
the pound weight of the mater bass and at that rate 
a three-pound female of the species would have a 
nice little crowd of 21,000 tiny tailkickers start- 
ing out in life to make things interesting for the 
fishermen. Of course the entire outfit never grows 
up to the point where they pass the legal limit, but 



» No. 1 a Producer weedless spoon hook with a Booster bait, fine 
for casting for bass; No. 2 a Silver Soldier spoon for deep trolling 
for salmon and lake trout; No. 3 an Edgren Minnow for casting and 
trolling for bass; No. 4 a Pflueger Luminous Tandem Spinner, a 
rattling good bait for bass when they are down deep during the hot 
weather and excellent for trolling; No. 5 a Pfiueger Porpoise Hide 
Phantom Minnow, a great bait for wall-eye pike and fine for bass 
either casting or deep trolling; No. 6 a Pflueger Lowe-Star spoon, fine 
for casting for bass and pike and the larger sizes a great musky 
lure; No. 7 a South Bend Weedless bucktail spinner, fine for bass 
casting in stream fishing and lakes; No. 8 an Archer Spinner, good 
for casting and trolling for bass and pike; No. 9 Pflueger Lowe Buf- 
falo Bait, the smaller sizes of which are excellent bass and pike cast- 
ing spoons while the larger are great for big musky, pike and pick- 
erel; No. 10 a Jamison Fly Rod Wiggler, a fine artificial for the fly 
rod for trout and bass and I have found it very effectively used on 
the short bait casting rod riding a dipsey sinker ahead of it. 

All of these lures are worth while and will help the angler to 
interest the game fish nearly any time or part of the season. 



FACTS ABOUT THE BASS 75 

enough of them do grow up to make things lively 
in the fishing game. 

After hanging around home for about a week or 
ten days, the roaming instinct asserts itself and the 
" little fellers " hike out for themselves and swim 
into the more shallow waters where the under-water 
weeds are abundant. At the time they leave their 
home and the protection of their parents they 
are about an inch in length and they travel in 
schools, snapping up every kind of insect life 
and even taking a chance at the small gnats and 
flies on the surface. When they get a bit older and 
reach a growth of about four inches they are well 
able to take care of themselves and they develop 
their audacity and voracity by making war on the 
minnow in the near-shore pools, chasing and battling 
far larger minnows than their own weight and size. 
This same battling nature and training from the fry 
stage up is what make 'em such grand old fighters 
when they get to the fishable size, and it certainly is 
a fact that the ones which survive the endless fight 
for existence in the watery recesses have accumu- 
lated a bunch of tricks that make them the keen 
antagonist that they are. 

From experiments with the large-mouth bass a 
few years ago, the United States fish commission 
gives us a few figures that show up the bass as a 
sure enough cannibal. Of 100,000 fish raised In 
the spring in one of the government fish ponds, only 



76 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

30,000 were left when they were removed in the fall 
for planting. While the big majority of these fry 
weighed around two and three ounces, there were 
over 500 that weighed nearly half a pound each. 
These latter fish are probably the boys who grow up 
into the six and seven-pounders we all have a hanker- 
ing to connect up with on our fishing trips. At the 
same time one of these little rascals devoured five 
others nearly as large as himself in one week, when 
placed in a separate tank with them. With an ap- 
petite like that, this husky youngster would probably 
develop into one of the big old " he-whops " you 
often hear about, but seldom have the luck to meet 
up with. 

When the little fellows survive long enough to 
celebrate their second birthday they attain an aver- 
age length from 8 to 12 inches and sport a weight 
of about a pound and from that time on, fighting 
their way through life they add on about a pound 
a year until they attain their maximum weight unless 
they decorate the stringer on the way up. The 
maximum weight of the small-mouth is approxi- 
mately four to five pounds and that of the large- 
mouth from six to eight pounds. Those that sneak 
past these limits are sure some fish, and happy is the 
mortal who feels the strike of these pastmasters in 
the art of keeping off the hook. 

Food supply and range of water are conditions 
that govern the growth of the bass, as well as all 



FACTS ABOUT THE BASS 77 

other fish and you will often find larger bass in a 
small deep lake than in the larger shallower waters. 
In the warmer Southern waters where the bass feed 
the entire year, their growth is greater than in the 
Northern waters where they turn into the mud and 
weeds and hibernate during the winter, but when 
they get out in the spring, they sure have more pep 
than their Southern cousins. 



HAIL TO THE SMALL-MOUTH 

Of all the varied angles to the great sport of fish- 
ing that send the joy jumps through the system, fly 
fishing for the stream-raised, bronze-backed, red- 
eyed battler, the small-mouth bass, has the rest of 
the game panting at the starting point. The big 
old husky musky will produce a muscular fight that 
is second to none, the rainbow trout Is there with the 
fast jumping fight, the brown trout prefers to rough 
it a bit, the brook trout acts similar to the loose end 
of a live electric wire and the large-mouth bass has a 
smacking kick like an army mule, but for a real pleas- 
ure producer, place your bet on the small-mouth 
brother of the fast stream. 

The rod for the beginner at fly casting for bass 
should be a bit heftier than the trouting tackle for 
the reason that you will find It necessary to rough 
him more than the speckled beauties. He is an 
adept at finding the snags and rocks of the bottom 
and he sure knows how to use them to advantage. 
In deep water he will make a spiral dive in an effort 
to entangle the line around a root or snag and break 
it, when It takes a little roughing to bring him up 
again. The safety first of fighting the small-mouth 
is to keep him near the surface, to make It a top 

78 



HAIL TO THE SMALL-MOUTH 79 

o' the water battle; this is particularly so in fast 
water. This does not mean that the line should be 
kept so taut that you are in danger of pulling him 
through the air like a flying fish, but just the happy 
medium between taut and slack. Let the rod arch, 
make the spring of the rod be the force that tires 
the fish. Keeping the line pulled too strong is about 
as bad as giving the fish too much slack, as he is 
likely to make a getaway in either case. As the 
game little sport makes his leap into the air, take 
away the slack, but give him back a little line as he 
hits the water, so that he does not land on a taut 
line and tail off to other waters. 

THE WET-FLY GETS 'eM 

The sunken or drowned fly as a general thing will 
get more bass than the dry fly, that is, conditions are 
usually better for the wet fly than the floaters, al- 
though on the fast moving unbroken water or the 
more placid water at the head of a pool, the float- 
ing bass bug is a sure killer in the fly game. If you 
are fishing the fly in fairly deep water it should be 
allowed to sink quite a bit and the retrieve be made 
slowly; in pools with a depth of ten or twelve feet 
give the bass plenty of time to decide whether to 
take a wallop at your fly or pass it up. 

The bronze-backer has a preference to fighting 
the fast water and he likes the deep spots in the 
rapids, especially if there be a submerged bowlder 



8o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

or log close by as a handy hiding place in time of 
need. Some of the largest scrappers of the family 
have been taken from these snug harbors of the 
game fins and generally the fellow who hangs out 
there is a big one who has pre-empted the spot and 
lords it over that neck of the waters. Toss your 
fly a trifle below the rock or log and retrieve it slowly 
with a series of slight jerks to give the fly a tremb- 
ling, dancing motion in the water to give it a semb- 
lance of life, but don't overdo the jerks, just about 
let the tip of the rod carry the trembling motion of 
the wrist to the fly. And, by the way, if you watch 
your fly you will be surprised at the amount of mo- 
tion it develops from a slight twitch of the wrist, due 
a lot, no doubt, to the vibration in the well tuned 
split bamboo fly rod. 

SPEED ON THE STRIKE 

In striking the bass via the fly route, make the 
strike the Instant the fish strikes or you will not find 
it necessary to strike at all. He never wastes a 
moment in throwing the fly. In clear fine water you 
will often see the bass make his dash for the feath- 
ery fancy, and if such is the case, strike the moment 
you first glimpse him and that won't be any too soon. 
You can afford to set the hook well as the small- 
mouth bass has a strong, tough mouth and setting the 
hook right at the start Is a little insurance on the 
rest of the fight. 



HAIL TO THE SMALL-MOUTH 8i 

At times the small-mouth is a trifle capricious and 
refuses to answer to the. luring call of the fly. Often 
when he is in such a humor the addition of a very 
small spinner in front of the fly will encourage him 
to say " howdy," but make the spinner a small light 
affair, not larger than a dime at the most. As a 
strike coaxer, the spinner is generally equal to the 
occasion, but this slight added weight will soon put 
a kink in the lighter rods, which is another reason 
for the slightly heavier tackle for the small-mouth 
game. As to the exact size spinner that you should 
use on your own particular rod, that all depends 
upon the rod itself and in a few casts you can easily 
determine the spinner which best suits your rod and 
that can be used without subjecting it to strain. The 
small difference in weight of a spinner may seem of 
slight importance to the beginner, but with the life 
of a high-priced rod at stake, the angler can save a 
healthy nick in his bank-roll by going light on the 
spinner. 

KNOWS HIS HOME WATERS 

Just paste this fact up in your history of the small- 
mouth; he knows the waters he lives in and he has a 
habit of choosing his own battle-ground. He may 
make a dash for the swiftest part of the stream, or 
bore down to the bottom, halted in this effort he may 
strike for a run across the stream making frantic 
leaps on the slightest indication of a little slack in 



82 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the line, or he dotes on curving himself across the 
stream, making the current help him in his effort to 
get away. He is playing a game to his liking and 
he is a past master at making a fisherman the laugh- 
ing stock of the waterways. 

That's the thing that makes the game of tossing 
the feathers to the small-mouth stream-raised bass 
the regal sport it really is and the fellow who comes 
in with a well-filled creel of the bronze-backed scrap- 
pers is a wonderfully lucky cuss, so help me Hannah. 



SOME FLY SELECTIONS 

Old-timer, since the first trout came up to the 
surface and said " howdy " to an artificial fly, that 
particular pattern was a favorite with the angler 
who happened to attract the attention of the trout 
with it. And he probably doped up a fine story of 
just how hard it had been to make that fly in order 
to get just the colors and style to make it the killer 
it was. After a few days when the big fins were off 
the feed and failed to answer to this fly's whistle, 
the old sport at the husky end of the rod started 
gluing and tying flies, and he has been at it ever 
since; that's why we have about 5,000 flies to select 
from in filling our little old flybook. 

Where they ever laid hold of the color combina- 
tions for the fly families is beyond me, and what the 
trout or bass really think these highly colored feath- 
ery fancies are, is entirely up to the fish. It is a 
mighty interesting thing to know, however, that 
some of the largest fish have come to grief on the 
gaudiest of the flies. And backed up against this 
record is the fact that some of the home-tied vari- 
ety, with no more pedigree than a barnyard rooster, 
have landed fish equally as large, if not larger. 

Taking the fly subject, both ways from the Jack, 

83 



84 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

I have about come to the conclusion that it is not 
entirely the fly or its coloration that makes a hit with 
the game fin, but the way that fly is handled by the 
fisherman. In fairly civilized trout waters, no mat- 
ter how well chosen has been your fly, or how well 
the cast has been made, if you have not placed it in 
likely spots and then handled it right when dropped, 
the further selection of flies will not be necessary. 
In fact you can take most any old ruffled-up, no-ac- 
count fly, sticking back in the corners of your flybook, 
and handled right, you can generally catch a few 
fish. Why, it's often just such an old fly you light 
onto last when changing 'em for the eagerly sought 
sure-fire killer you need at that moment, after having 
whipped everything else up, down and across the 
stream in an effort to coax the battling brothers out 
of their home waters. 

Of course, seeing these flies through the water 
as is the case with the fish, we have to give them 
some credit of knowing what they think they look 
like, it may be that the water blends the color com- 
binations into a mighty inviting dish to a hungry 
trout. We do not know, however, that you have 
to strike 'em with some speed, anyway, as they are 
quick to kn'ow that the feathery fly is not a grub- 
stake, and cough it out just about as speedily as they 
strike it. 

For night or evening fishing, " after dark " fish- 
ing, as most of the boys call it, use a dark-colored 



SOME FLY SELECTIONS 85 

fly, and although this may seem a bit queer to the 
fellows who have not tried for the big fellows after 
the stars are out, it sure will come up strong as a 
creel jfiller. There is always more light reflected 
in the sky at night than in the stream, in other words, 
the waters are darker and the dark bodied fly will 
show up more against the lighter sky background 
than will the fly of lighter body. This light-colored 
fly will blend in more with the sky and be of less 
prominence to the trout. In tossing 'em something 
to eat you might as well make it as showy as pos- 
sible. Never make 'em worry about a piece of fish 
food on its way past their feeding-grounds. The 
time to make 'em worry is after you hook and net 
'em. Let your dark-colored fly stand out in a 
silhouette of a good meal. 

Taking a slant over some back figures, we find that 
Mary Orvis Marbury, a daughter of Charles Orvis, 
a fly-fisherman of nation-wide popularity, collected a 
list of most popular flies from the many well-known 
fly casters who followed the call of the rustling 
stream. The 12 most popular patterns named from 
all over the country, receiving mention from 58 
down to 18 times, were the Coachman, Professor, 
Moyal Coachman, Brown Hackle, Black Gnat, 
White Miller, Montreal, Grizzly King, Cowdung, 
Scarlet Ibis, Queen of Waters and Silver Doctor. 

While the above list shows a good variety of pat- 
terns and colors, the following selection made from 



86 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the lists of well-known fly-fishermen last season will 
stack you up against a choice that is hard to tear 
away from. Coachman, Professor, Cahill, Queen 
of Waters, Royal Coachman, Wickham's Fancy, 
Stone, Cowdung, McGinty, Brown Hackle, Brown 
Palmer and Silver Doctor. 

After you have fished a bit with all kinds of pat- 
terns you will probably settle down to a few tried- 
and-true " pets," and swear by them, or at them, 
forever. Thad Morris had four favorites, Coach- 
man, Red Hackle, Red Spinner and Black Gnat, and 
Seth Green of other days placed his chances on four, 
the Grizzly King, Lake George, Seth Green and 
Governor Alvord, but when these old-timers failed 
to land anything worth while they probably blamed 
it on the weather, the condition of the water, or that 
the fish were off the feed. 

As a little old surprise party, forget your fly book 
some day and then try to improvise something you 
think will look good to the underwater vets. I re- 
call some time ago, while on a nice little piece of 
trout water without any of the tools of the trade, 
that a farmer's kiddle and myself had a bully fine 
time tying a few flies from home-raised materials. 
We took a bit of bucktall hair from a rug on the 
floor, braced that with a little stiffener from a 
" porky " skin on the cabin wall, wrapped it all with 
the only silk thread the settler's wife had, and that 
was white cotton. On one we wrapped a bit of red 



SOME FLY SELECTIONS 87 

wool I stole out of the kid's undershirt, and on the 
other we hooked a couple of beads, and say, old 
scout, you should have seen the game little rascals 
crowd those two flies until they came apart from the 
rushing business and poor workmanship. 

Naturally, old-timer, you want as nice a selection 
of flies to show your friends as any other fishing pal, 
but take it from your canal boat friend, the way you 
handle and where you place the fly is the real reason 
for the bulging creels. 



A BIT ABOUT FLIES 

Way back in the early days, old-timer, even way 
back before Hector was a purp, in fact I think it 
must have been back about the stone age, one of our 
ancestors probably was lolling along a gurgling 
stream, or just loafing away the time, of which he 
had plenty to spare and nothing else besides his stone 
ax, waiting for a nice old gran'daddy bass to come 
along so that he could either spear it or swat it over 
the head with his ax, when he noticed a feather float- 
ing down through the air from a wood duck as it 
honked its way South to a winter home. The 
feather wafted through the air and dropped on the 
water, the wind tossing it lightly with the current. 
When, with a walloping drive, a nervous wreck in 
the shape of a man's size rainbow trout struck the 
feather like a Kansas cyclone and shot back to the 
bottom. 

Now, once or twice, our neolithic forebear had 
tasted a well-scorched trout, which he had grilled 
with a forked stick over a fire, but the wily trout 
were a bit too cautious to fall a victim of his slugging 
tactics in the fishing game. Mulling the feather 
idea over in his small amount of gray matter, he 
doped up the prehistoric fly, probably by tying a 



A BIT ABOUT FLIES 89 

couple of feathers on a sharpened bone for a hook. 
And after his first try out at tossing the feathers to 
the game fins he spent the remainders of his days 
tying new designs in flies for himself and the rest 
of the anglers of his time. 

This is no doubt the reason we have so many pat- 
terns in flies at the present time, something over 
5,000 different flies to coax the husky tailkickers out 
of their watery retreats. And about every now and 
then some fellow ties another style that makes 'em 
cross-eyed to take a chance at mouthing it. Of 
course, there are quite a few standard patterns that 
have made a " rep " for getting the fish, that are 
hard to beat, yet nearly every angler will swear by 
some particular pattern as the one best bet, and this 
fly holds the pet position in his fly book, while his 
fishing pal may fish the same streams and have, as 
his killer, a fly of an entirely different style and 
color. 

This brings us to the argument between the ultra- 
purist in the fly fishing game who claims that the 
flies used must imitate as closely as possible the nat- 
ural insects that are on the wing along the stream at 
the time of fishing, and the ordinary fly caster who 
tosses a standard tied feathery fancy to the waiting 
fish, changing to another of the same class until he 
finds one that seems to tickle their palate at that 
time, and this selection is not made after catching a 
few of the flying insects and comparing their Ber- 



90 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

tillon measurements with the layout in his fly book. 

Of course, there is a lot of good common sense in 
imitating nature as much as possible in the making 
of flies, but the fly that has been successfully used 
to a greater extent than any other pattern does not 
imitate any particular insect that is found along the 
streams, and this little old winner is the Coachman. 
This green-bodied, white-winged, red-whiskered old 
fly has probably caught more fish than all the " close- 
to-nature " styles, and nearly every fly-fisherman has 
a few tucked away in his fly book, because he knows 
that it has a " rep " for getting the fish, and regard- 
less of his pets in the nature line, he has it there for 
emergency use in order that he can give it a whirl 
if all others fail. 

The Coachman has been a life saver to many a 
fellow in the stream, and for this fly of varied hue 
we have to thank the imagination of old Tom Bos- 
worth, royal coachman to three of England's rulers. 
King George the Fourth, King William the Fourth, 
and Queen Victoria. Tom sure tied a winner when 
he doped up the Coachman, and when he had the 
first one finished he likely hied himself off by his 
lonesome and gave it a tryout before he passed it 
around among his cronies of the rod and reel. The 
Coachman is tied after the conventional standard 
fly patterns, and fat old Tom Bosworth was about 
as far away from imitating the natural insects when 
he mixed the materials and colors for the Coachman 



A BIT ABOUT FLIES 91 

as most of the plugs for bass are away from the nat- 
ural baits. 

I figure just a bit this way, old scout, that if the 
trout are coming up for the feed, they are tickled to 
death to vary their menu a trifle and take a chance 
on a fly that in all probabilities looks different to 
them from anything that has dropped on their 
waters before, and that the chances are just as good 
to interest them in a fly that is different, as they are 
to interest them in an imitation that probably does 
not fool them at all. In other words, the " some- 
thing different " appearance of the old-line conven- 
tional flies may look like a juicy dessert after a gorg- 
ing on their regular line of feed, while the man- 
made-close-to-nature effect may be passed up be- 
cause it does not look as good to them as the regular 
thing, and they also note the deception. 



MORE ABOUT FLIES 

In trying to imitate nature along the stream side, 
in the selection of flies, when we consider the keen 
sight of the trout, can we really say that we are fool- 
ing these game fins into believing that the imitation 
we toss to them is one of the regular stream insects 
upon which they have been feeding. May it not 
be more correct to think that we are tossing an insect 
to them and that they merely take it for another 
piece of food coming into their vision. When we 
consider the many conventional styles of flies that 
have been stand-bys in the fly game, flies that never 
have been much of an imitation of natural stream 
insects and that have been used throughout a season 
with good results, is it not a squarer deal for the 
keen-sighted trout to give him the benefit of the 
doubt, that although we are fooling him to the extent 
that he thinks our offering is a bit of feed, we are not 
getting a rise out of him because he takes the fly for 
a local member of the insect escadrille that flies over 
his battle front. 

Which brings us down to the point that spending 
half one's time on the stream chasing a bunch of in- 
sects and doping out their duplicates from the fly 
book, is losing a bit of time that could be used in 

92 



MORE ABOUT FLIES 93 

whipping the stream and fiUing the creel. When 
you figure out that the trout has keen enough sight 
to tail off to the under-water log, rock or washed-out 
bank when you merely as much as show your arm 
above the bushes, and that they will continue to feed 
in plain sight if your dog happens to run down to the 
water and kick around a little while he laps up a 
drink, it's good medicine that you are more likely to 
interest him in something new and different than you 
are to make him think that your feathery offering is 
the second course in his regular meal. 

Next time you are on a stream, old-timer, toss a 
few odds and ends into the water, and as they float 
down around the bowlders or along the edges of the 
under-washed bank watch the old boys come up and 
nose these little offerings. I have had them come 
up and get acquainted with the ends of burnt 
matches, little wrinkled bits of paper, the colored 
revenue tax stamp from an old Bull Durham sack, 
mountain ash berries, gayly-colored flower petals, a 
twisted cigarette butt, and numerous other things. 
And it's a ten-to-one shot that they come up to see 
whether the passing article, with the strange appear- 
ance, was a bit of fish food. 

A fly that has been making quite a killing among 
the trout, bass, and musky fishermen during the past 
year Is the all-hair fly and the hair and feather com- 
bination fly. These flies are being tied In all kinds 
of hair, from the regulation bucktail down to albino 



94 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

squirrel, and although none that I have seen Imitate 
any particular Insect or resemble In any way the 
usual stream-side flies, they certainly have been 
mighty luring to the game boys. The big point that 
stands out In their favor Is the wonderful wiggling 
motion of the hairs in the water. It seems that each 
individual hair has a nervous little twitch of Its own, 
and the combined bunch of twitching hair makes a 
lifelike movement on and In the water that the trout, 
bass, and musky seem unable to resist. 

Ed Wyman, a fly caster of note and a big game 
hunter, has been tying hair flies for a number of 
years, and these flies are certainly killers for bass, 
salmon, and musky. And the beauty about Ed's 
hair flies Is that they are tied to stay tied and they 
stand a bunch of rough use that the ordinary fly 
would go to pieces under. Any fisherman who is 
fortunate enough to get a hair fly tied by Wyman 
surely has added a fly to his book that will make 
him happy for life. 

Emerson Hough, the well-known author, who Is 
a fisherman from his shoes up, has been tying a buck- 
tail that will make him as famous as any of his 
books. The long straggling tail hairs on this fly 
give It mighty teasing movement In the water. Up 
to last season, Mr. Hough kept his bucktail fly as a 
personal affair among his friends, but the requests 
for them became so numerous, that about all he had 
time to do was tie flies. So the Emerson Hough 



MORE ABOUT FLIES 95 

Bucktall Fly Is now being made commercially, and 
has taken its place in the fly family. 

Not only in the fly line proper has the hair been 
used, of late, but also in the tying of bucktail shiners 
and minnows. The Hildebrandt people, of spinner 
fame, have a small-sized silver shiner, light enough 
to be handled on the fly rod and still attractive 
enough to be effective as a lure for the game fins. 
These shiners are tied with a streaming hair tail that 
is a decided killer. 



WIND-UP ON THE FLIES 

There is quite an argument among tlie knights of 
the arching rod and singing reel as to who really 
tied the first hair fly, which is a natural consequence 
when anything starts on the road to popularity. 
Not wishing to jim the works any, as to who did it, 
I quote the following from " The Art of Angling," 
by R, Brookes, M. D., published in London back 
in 1760. " To make useful artificial Flies, you fur- 
nish yourself with a Pocket Case capable of holding 
the following materials : Bears Hair of divers Col- 
ors; as gray, dun, light and dark-colored, bright 
brown and that which shines: Also Camel's Hair, 
dark, light and of a color between both: Badgers 
Hair, or Fur: Spaniels Hair, from behind the ear, 
light and dark brown, blackish and black: Hogs 
Down, which can be had, about Christmas, of Butch- 
ers, or rather of those that make Brawn; it should 
be plucked from under the throat and other soft 
places of the hog, black, red, whitish and sandy. 
Cows and calves hair in all the different shades, from 
the lightest to the darkest brown, both of which are 
harsh, and will never work kindly, nor lie hand- 
somely. Flies made of the hairs of bears, hogs, 

96 



WIND-UP ON THE FLIES 97 

squirrel's tail, camels, dogs, foxes, badgers, otters, 
ferrets, cows, calves' skins, etc., are more natural, 
lively and keep color better in the water than flies 
made of crewels and worsted stuffs, unless you 
mingle hair therewith." 

Which goes to show that the hair fly is not a 
spring chicken and that Old Doc Brookes, peace to 
his ashes, knew a bit about the hair fly way back 
in the early stages of the game. Although Doc 
gave his fishing friends the info on the hair fly, they 
probably never tied a fly in those days that had the 
lively crawl and movement of the present-time hair 
flies, nor were they tied as skillfully as those of to- 
day. I have one chewed up Wyman hair fly that 
has to its credit the landing of 55 small-mouth bass 
in the St. Francis river in Missouri, and 22 small- 
mouth in the Varner river in the same state. After 
all this mauling, the fly is still in shape to land more 
bass. Here is a fly made entirely of hair, with the 
exception of two small narrow feathers tailing out 
behind, that made the bass cross-eyed to get it and 
yet it does not resemble or imitate anything that ever 
flew over the Missouri streams. I make it that these 
bass were attracted by the wonderful movement of 
the hairs in the fly; that it looked like something to 
eat that was possibly getting away, and that the fly 
never for a minute fooled the wily bass that it was 
something that they had been feeding on as a regular 
diet. 



98 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

And the fact that this hair fly stood up under the 
heavy work of landing such a number of lighting 
game fins shows up the hair as a mighty durable ma- 
terial for fins. Of course it had to be tied with care 
and skill to outlast the roughing it received, some- 
thing that few, if any, of the standard feathery flies 
would live through. 

C. C. Refner of floating bass bug fame ties a 
bucktail fly that carries an added attraction besides 
the lively wiggle of the hairs. " Ref " has doped 
up a prismatic coloring that lets the light shine 
through the hair in a scintillating way that seems to 
make the flies quite a bit more lifelike than the 
darker flies. 

It is interesting to note the hair fly, tied on a 
larger hook, is being used in the quest of the rough- 
neck musky and that it has been found a good lure 
for this gay dog of the underwater haunts. The 
large silver shiner with the hair and a few feathers 
is, however, a better lure for the musky, and the 
shiner or fly can be either cast with the fly rod or 
the shorter bait-casting tool. Unless one is a skill- 
ful manipulator of the fly rod, it is folly to subject 
a clean-cut tool of this class to the kicking fight of 
the musky, and at that it is some job to land this 
game cuss with a whippy fly tosser. 

As the hair flies and the hair and feathered com- 
bination flies become more generally used, their won- 
derfully effective action in the water will be appreci- 



WIND-UP ON THE FLIES 99 

ated by the fishermen who find keen pleasure in 
whipping a bit of water to coax the game fins up to 
get acquainted. 



REELSPOOL TO LURE 

The rod and reel are considered such important 
parts of the bait-casting outfit that they have been 
touted as the last word in tackle lore, but the little 
old line, and from that piece of kit down to the lure, 
is a detail that really handles the brunt of the bat- 
tle and should be given greater care, or at least as 
much attention as either the rod or reel. Fish have 
time and again been landed after a rod has snapped 
and I know of one 30-pound musky that was safely 
played last season, after the reel had slipped loose 
from the reel seat and flopped down into the water 
and continued on its way to the bottom of the lake. 
The fact that the line held and that the leader was 
right is what finally brought this old rascal to gaff. 
Therefore, I do not think that the rod or reel are of 
any more importance than the line and leader, for, 
should either of these pieces of kit give way, no mat- 
ter how fine the rod or reel, the old " he-whop " is 
on his way to other waters and you are reelin' in the 
shattered hopes and a busted line. 

In the matter of material for the bait-casting line, 
we can throw everything Into the discard except silk. 
No other material has ever run even a close third 
to this product of the silk worm for a material out 

100 



REELSPOOL TO LURE loi 

of which to produce a line that will hold up under 
the burning wear of steady casting and at the same 
time not eat a hole Into your thumb. 

And the silk line should be braided and not 
twisted, as the twisted affairs will kink the top of a 
pickaninny's skyplece, and even at that, at times you 
will get a kink in the silk lines as every bait caster 
knows. 

Of the braided lines make a choice of the soft- 
braided ones, for the very good reason that they are 
easier on the casting thumb and less likely to put 
that member on the sick list, if you happen to be on 
a two weeks trip to the fishing waters and have failed 
to bring along an extra right-handed thumb. 
Steady casting for a couple of days, by the fellow 
who has not been doing much casting before the 
big trip, will soon enough wear on the thumb a bit 
and as a little old piece of insurance to have the 
thumb in condition for the rest of the trip — use 
the soft-braided silk line. 

Then another point in its favor is the fact that 
the soft-braided line spools more evenly on the reel 
and lies close and smooth, which is an advantage 
in favor of the next cast and a mighty good anti- 
back-lash remedy. 

It is surely a piece of false economy to buy a cheap 
line, or to wait until the last minute before your trip 
to rush In and buy any old line the tackle man has 
on hand. Many a bunch of joy-jumps have been 



I02 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

turned into gloom clouds by a poor line. Get a line 
with a good name behind it. A line of soft-braided 
silk, 50 yards to the spool, and one that you can 
depend upon costs about a dollar or a bit over that. 
You'll save fish and money by getting one around 
this price. Nearly every line maker has a card of 
sample lines showing sizes and test weights, it's a 
simple matter to send for one of these cards and 
make your selection before you stock up. 

For all round bait-casting there are two sizes of 
lines that really cover about everything a fellow 
needs, these are No. 5 or G size and No. 6 or H 
size, some makers using letters to designate sizes 
in place of numbers. The No. 5 size tests out 
around 20 pounds and the No. 6 tests about 15 
pounds, and unless you are in waters in which you 
expect some of the great old barbarians, the musky 
or pike, the smaller size No. 6 will be found the 
most satisfactory for general casting. In fact, the 
fisherman who has passed a few seasons at the sport 
alluring, seldom uses a heavier line than the No. 6, 
as this size is plenty strong enough for the fellow 
who knows how to play the game fins. 

How long a line will last in the casting game, 
depends entirely upon the care given it. If you al- 
low it to dry out on the reel after the day's fishing, 
to mildew and become rotten, the life of the line 
will be short and the end sudden, but if you raise it 
a pet and dry it out thoroughly after fishing, keeping 



REELSPOOL TO LURE 103 

It in an air-tight tube during the off season, you can 
use it when the fever hits you the following season. 
Turn your line every day or so, in this way the wear 
is somewhat evened up, otherwise the part next to 
the reel will be seldom used. Test the end each day, 
between the hands, not with a sudden jerk, but an 
even, slow pull and If the line is worn and weak- 
ened, cut the dead timber off and save fish and lures 
later. 

At the bait end of the line you should use a wire 
leader and either the gimp twisted wire or the 
straight piano wire leaders are good for the kit. 
These leaders are supplied with snaps and swivels 
and there Is no more useful and time saving part of 
the tackle than a leader so arranged. If you get 
a heavy close-up strike from one of the dagger- 
toothed villains you will thank your lucky stars that 
you have a strong wire leader between his teeth and 
not the bare line. You can loop your line into the 
end swivel and changing lures will take but a mo- 
ment's time to loosen the snap on the other end. 
And the swivel, old-timer, is a mighty small affair, 
but it sure does keep the line from kinking and snarl- 
ing. To see just what value it really is, make a few 
casts without one and then shoot out a few with the 
swivel in use and you certainly will see the difference. 



WORMING FOR TROUT 

In the early season when the trout streams are 
generally at flood, or at least a bit high, and the 
waters are roiled Or slightly colored with the mud 
and truck from along the shores, about the best little 
old bait that keeps you from coming home without 
a fin in the creel, is the angleworm. That little wig- 
gling cuss you used way back in the knee-pants stage 
of the game on the sunnies and other panfish. 

Some of the most experienced anglers of the fish- 
ing clan who, early In the season, carry a fly book 
filled with flies of every color and hue, are supposed 
to have passed up the fishworm in their flight to 
glory, but after giving the stream the once or twice 
over without coaxing a rise, they generally are able 
to search around in their hip pockets and locate a 
little box of worms hidden away for just such an 
emergency, and, if no one is looking, they hook on 
a nice, juicy common fishworm and take a shot with 
it. As the trout are bottom feeding on just such 
food in the early season and have their lamps pealed 
for the worms as they are washed downstream, it's 
a fairly good bet that the angler, with his experience 
at the game, lands a few nice ones regardless of the 
murky condition of the stream. 

104 



The bait casting rod, that short little joy stick which has made 
it possible for many, many fellows to get into the angling game. 
The ease with which it is mastered has opened up the wonders of 
the water trails to thousands of fellows, who possibly would not 
have had the nerve to try the sport by mastering the long whippy 
fly rod at the jump off. 

No. 1 shows the long tip of the Jim Heddon rod and No. 2 is the 
Heddon rod jointed, this rod is a split bamboo and a rattling good 
one. No. 3 is a light tip for light lures and No. 4 is the complete 
Horrocks-Ibbotson rod. with a medium heavy tip 'for heavier lures, 
this rod with a light and heavy tip niakes a fine combination and 
it is an e:?c;cellent split bamboo affair.. Rods No. 5, 6, and 7 are 
of my own make and range from Syi to 5 ounces in weight, they 
are personal pets of split bamboo which I have used for 12 to 15 
years. No. 5 is a two piece, 6 and 7 are one piece with butt. ^ 

No. .8 is a Bristol steel rod, a fine one for musky, and No. 9 is 
a Bristol telescopic steel rod, a mighty handy rod to carry in the 
woods for all kinds of fishing as it is adjustable to any length from 
four to six and a .half feet. No. 10 is a Bristol steel pocket rod, 
made with very small joints and a handy rod to pack in small space 
or slip into the pocket, while No. 11 is a fifteen year old Bristol steel 
that has been carried on many trips during that time into the hinter- 
lands as a piece of rod insurance. It has traveled many miles on 
steel, stream and portage as a safety first against breakage of the 
.split bamboos. 



'.iiif •- 



I 



II M 




254567 8 9 10 I 



WORMING FOR TROUT 105 

Do not for a minute, old-timer, get the idea that 
fishing for trout with the worm is an easy proposi- 
tion. You need just as much stream knowledge, and 
far more stealth and care in approaching your pools, 
in early season worming for trout as you do in the 
fly-casting days when the duns begin to hatch and 
you match your feathered hooks with the colors of 
the stream insects that are flitting about. 

It is, of course, impossible for anyone to stack 
up a bunch of set rules on the fishing of all streams. 
Every stream has its own peculiarities and condi- 
tions, but there is one old rule that cannot be broken 
by the trout fisherman on any stream, and that is, 
" don't let the trout see you or your shadow." This 
is one of the standby rules that sure applies to the 
early season, when the trout are keenly on the look- 
out for anglers as well as food. If you are wading 
in the middle of the stream, don't for a minute think 
that the wise old spotted rascal, who may be hiding 
a foot or two under an overhanging bank, is asleep 
on the job; he knows and sees all that is going on 
right close up and for considerable distance. And 
if he sees you first, before the worm comes down In 
a tantalizing wiggle, he'll never slip into your creel 
on that trip downstream. 

As the streams clear up a bit and the waters fall 
to about normal the trout are more on the feed, 
and their food at this time consists of worms, 
leeches, crabs, helgramites and other underwater 



io6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

forms that are carried down to them by the flowage 
of the stream, and live worms used with skill and 
care will get the fish, while you can cast your arm 
off with a fly and probably get nothing but practice, 
which is sure not what the average fisherman is look- 
ing for. 

There is quite a difference between worming for 
trout and fishing for trout with worms. To merely 
hook on a couple of worms and throw out your line, 
letting the current carry it down lickety-split, half 
the time buried in mud and hidden by debris until a 
trout happens to nose it out and swallows it, is not 
worming for trout by any means. That is pure and 
simple still fishing, about as lively as fishing for sun- 
nies, and neither sportsmanlike nor much fun. 

The real early season sport with the worm is to 
use the same tackle as in fly-casting and to- cast into 
the most likely spots. Covering the swirl of water 
around the partly submerged bowlders, dropping 
your worm above the cut-under bank so that it will 
carry down along that hiding place ; around the roots 
of trees and in the pools formed by the piled-up 
brush and debris; and, most important of all in the 
rapids and shallow pools and at the heads of pools 
where the water is a bit swifter and more active, 
here you will generally fi.nd the big fellows gorging 
themselves. That's what makes 'em big — always 
sticking around where the feed is the thickest. 

The riggin' for worming for trout is a simple af- 



WORMING FOR TROUT 107 

fair. Take the ordinary trout gang of two small 
hooks, about No. 8 size, tied to a looped leader. 
Tie this on your leader and you can either take one 
large-sized worm and hook it on the top hook leav- 
ing the short end to wiggle, and then hook it down 
farther on the second hook, allowing the other end 
of the worm to dangle loosely, or you can take two 
smaller-sized worms and slip one on each hook, in- 
serting the hooks through the middle of the worms. 
This later method is usually found more effective, 
as the worms are far more lively, and the more 
wiggle to friend worm the greater the interest cre- 
ated among the trout. And in the early season, 
after a hard winter, and the high cost of trout liv- 
ing setting new altitude records, believe me, there 
is nothing more alluring to the trout than aforesaid 
wiggle of the worm. 

In making your cast vAth the worm, go about it 
gently, as the worm is easier to snap off the hook 
than it is to snap off a fly in casting. Don't allow 
the worm to sink to the bottom, but give it a little 
motion and keep it in about middle depths. Your 
down-stream worm in middepths is quickly seen by 
the trout and he will rise to it with the same pug- 
nacity that he shows when taking a wallop at your 
fly. After the strike, you play him with the same 
tackle and use the same skill that you do in fly-fishing 
for him, and far be it from me to cause an argument 
with any of the fly-purists — but what makes the 



io8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

game unsportsmanlike is the point that has your 
uncle fanning the air. 

I figure, old-timer, that going after the game fins 
with what they are feeding on at that time — and 
playing 'em with light tackle — is playing the game 
fair, and the devil take the hindmost. 



A BIT ABOUT QUEER BAITS 

Regardless, old man, of the great number of baits 
and lures flaunted before you each season as you 
make your many pilgrimages to the tackle stores 
to gloat over the fine stuff lying around those places, 
there are a few that you have probably never used 
because you have not been hep to them. And in 
most cases these baits have been discovered by some- 
one who carelessly left the real stuff lying on the 
pier or about the camp and little old mother neces- 
sity made 'em put on their think-tank and dope up an 
emergency lure that would induce the big fellows to 
strike it and eventually land in the spider. 

Olaf Hanson, a genial mate on a freighter on the 
great lakes, a sailorman by instinct and a fisherman 
for the love of the game, pulled a fine one last sea- 
son. Olaf had a bit of time on his hands one blust- 
ery, cold day in May, while his good ship was tied 
up in Copper Harbor, Mich., so he ambled off to 
Tango lake and took a flier at his pet sport. But 
he forgot his spoon hooks and being an observing 
fellow with an inventive turn to his gray matter, 
Olaf doped up a spoon which brought back the bacon 
to the tune of a 29-pound pike, which is sure no big 
fin to be sneezed at. And, old-timer, you can figure 

109 



no FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

it out for yourself the peppery fight this gay rascal 
made In the cool waters of Tango lake, before be- 
coming doped up with the heat of a lazy summer. 

And Olaf's spoon was nothing more nor less than 
the half of a clam shell, picked from the sands along 
the shore. Not so bad for a lure at that, the pearly 
shine of the Inside of the shell and the dulled outer 
side probably made an Inviting flash as it wobbled 
through the water. At least It played the swan song 
of a big fin of the pike family, fine enough fish for 
any angler to match wits with. In rigging his 
tackles, Hanson bored a small hole through the 
clam shell, passed his line through the hole and let 
the shell wobble around on the wire leader. Tack 
this idea on the back walls of your brain cells, old 
man, so that you can be prepared for the next time 
you hit a likely looking piece of water and find the 
spoons among the missing. And even at that, 
what's the odds, give It a try out anyway some day 
when the big fins are off the other lures you have 
tried out and which don't seem to Interest them. 
Here's to the clam shell, long may It wobble, thanks 
to Olaf Hanson and his keen thinker. 

Bob Moulton, another simon-pure fishing fan, 
who would rather fish than do his knitting, and who 
has whipped many waters from coast to coast, 
copped the kitty with a spoon last season that made 
three muskies sit up on their tails and whistle for 
the breaks. Bob was out on a mighty Inviting piece 



A BIT ABOUT QUEER BAITS in 

of fishing waters with a friend who couldn't tell the 
difference between a fish hook and an anchor. The 
only thing on the launch that resembled tackle in the 
slightest degree was a couple hundred feet of heavy 
hand line and a few hooks, so Moulton gave the 
launch the once over again and found a small nickle 
shoe horn which he pounced on with a yelp of fiend- 
ish glee. He bent the small end of the horn on a 
right angle, passed the line through the hole, knotted 
it above and below the hole and walloped it out in 
the water for a ten strike. That the fish fell for 
this improvised spoon in its skipping glide through 
the water is shown by a string of three muskies rang- 
ing from eleven pounds up to sixteen. Of course, 
old timer, the moral of this is to always carry a few 
shoe horns in your off hind pocket, or if you must 
fish when the kit is back home in the safe, do a little 
Edison stuff and make up an emergency outfit from 
what you find lying around. 

For a live bait that has everything in the layout 
beaten at the starting post, you gotta doff the sky- 
piece to the goldfish. The mud minnow, which is 
a favorite, the shiner, chub, sucker or anyone of 
the minnow family don't show up at all when it 
comes to a bass bait that makes 'em cross-eyed to get 
at it. I had this tip passed to me last season and 
hogged it right up to now, because it was a killer 
and a sure fire bass teaser. 

The info on the goldfish was slipped to me by a 



112 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

friend who got it first hand from a party who has 
used no other bait for any fishing during the past 
forty years and he has fished with this bait all over 
this country, also in Asia and South Africa, in fact, 
he first learned of it in Siam many years ago. I had 
a sort of feelin' that my friend was passing me a 
short line of bull, so I did not try out the goldfish 
bait until mid-season and on a hot sticky July day 
when the bass were down below looking for the cool 
spots. When I let that shining wiggling bait tail 
its way in among them, they probably thought it was 
easy money, because they took the bait like hungry 
wolves. There was simply nothing to it, the bass 
could not resist the golden lure as it flashed its invi- 
tation to them. 

A few days later, fishing with a pal on very civ- 
ilized waters, we caught three to one with the gold- 
fish against the mud minnow and chub. For still 
fishing for bass, or a light short cast letting the bait 
sink, when the fish are down deep, the goldfish is 
certainly some bait. The nearest thing in artificials 
to the goldfish is a Keeling Minnow. This bait is 
a two inch minnow of a copper color and a good 
small-mouth lure, but you have to let it go way down 
for the fish; it is exceptionally good in the hot 
weather for deep fishing. Here's a little dope for 
the tackle makers, the fellow who gets out a min- 
now of the color of the goldfish and makes it a 
short-sized plug is sure going to put on the market 



A BIT ABOUT QUEER BAITS 113 

a winning lure. But to make it a winner, the plug 
will have to carry the shining, orange-golden color 
of the real goldfish. 



ON HANDLING THE PLUG 

Old man, when you lope into a tackle store and see 
the many different artificial plugs for unsuspecting 
fish, you are sure in a quandary as to a selection of 
what plugs will really get the fish. Naturally every 
plug-maker touts his bait up as the one and only 
sure-shot killer, and at that he is not far wrong — 
here's a bit of a secret, and one that will be well for 
you to tack away in your gray matter. Any old 
plug will get fish if you play it right and keep it 
moving in the water, but you certainly got to keep 
it moving. You could throw a plug on the water 
and let it float around all day, and every old game 
fin in that neck of the waters would let it float in 
peace, and about all you might expect would be a 
couple little minnows, or perhaps a perch to come up 
and nose it around out of curiosity. 

QUICK TRANSFER OF ROD 

Where the beginner at plug casting makes his 
big mistake, old scout, is in slipping up on an import- 
ant part of the casting game, and that little old point 
is the transfer of the rod from the right to the left 
hand the instant the plug strikes the water. Next to 
the placing of the plug with accuracy in the weed- 

114 



ON HANDLING THE PLUG 115 

pockets, comes the importance of this transfer of 
the rod and the starting of the plug on its retrieve 
to the reel the instant it hits the water. And at that, 
I believe that it is equally important to start the plug 
homeward instantly, as it is to place it in just the spot 
you had aimed at. 

A bass is interested in the plug from the moment 
it strikes the water, and often this interest is 
awakened while the plug is in the air right above the 
water. The bass often starts on the move to make 
the strike before the splash of the plug, but it's a 
ten-to-one shot that he does speed up the instant of 
the splash, and he sure loses interest if the plug lies 
motionless on the water. The splash of the plug is 
an incentive to make him strike, and the quick move 
of the plug makes him think he had better get a 
move on or this choice bit of grub will get out of 
his bailiwick and be snapped up by his competitor in 
the weed-beds. 

TAKE UP THE SLACK 

This transfer of the rod from the casting hand to 
the other one takes practice to get it down to a fine 
action. As you make the cast on the forward sweep, 
your arm almost takes a horizontal position at the 
wind-up, with the elbow slightly forward of the 
body. As you thumb the reel with the heavy pres- 
sure to drop the plug where you want it, thrust your 
other hand out and grasp the rod grip so that the 



ii6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

instant the plug flops down on the surface you have 
the rod In position to begin reeling in the line with 
the casting hand on the reel handle. In order to 
start the plug immediately, give the rod a horizontal 
sweep backwards; this gives you a chance to take in 
any slack and start the line reeling in without leav- 
ing the plug motionless on the water for an instant. 
Do not make this sweep too far back or you will not 
be in a position to strike your fish the moment he 
strikes your plug, and with the artificial this is neces- 
sary. As you start reeling in the line, let the rod 
work back in front of you. This takes the strain 
off the rod, and you are always in a position to strike 
if necessary. If you get a backlash, however, all 
your trouble goes to naught, and if you experience a 
strike with a backlash in full bloom, good-night; 
you'll swear by every card in the deck that you will 
reel in the line more carefully next time. 

FLOATER FOR THE BEGINNER 

For a starter in plugs it is well to lay in a supply 
of floaters, the plug which comes to the surface when 
you stop reeling in the line. Most of the surface 
or semi-surface lures are floaters, and the beginner 
saves quite a bit of money due to this fact, as the 
underwater plugs have a great little habit of hunting 
the bottom and lovingly cling to the first snag or 
rock crevice In the neighborhood. For early season 
fishing the surface plug is the one that gets the fish, 



ON HANDLING THE PLUG 117 

and in fact It is good right through the season, al- 
though about mid-season, when the weather is hot 
and especially for fishing during the daytime, at that 
period, you will get better results by using either an 
underwater plug or sending the surface affair down 
deeper for the fish. Nearly all of the floaters have 
eyelets or planes which send the lures down to dif- 
ferent depths and you can fish almost any kind of 
water with them, except the real deep pools or holes. 
In early morning and late evening fishing, when the 
bass are in the shallows, feeding, the surface lure is 
a rattling good bait, and for night fishing no other 
style plug has a look-in. 

RIGHT INTO THE WEEDS 

Of course, old man, you'll want to cast right Into 
the weeds when you find a likely-looking spot, and it 
Is some job to handle a plug in such places without 
hooking half the weeds In the lay-out. For work 
In the weeds, unless you strike a fairly open pocket, 
the plug with the trebled hooks Is bad medicine, and 
you should either cart a few lures equipped with 
weedless hooks or one with the twin-hook arrange- 
ment with the hooks pointing up. For a regular old- 
style weed rake, nothing has It on the underwater 
plug, and the floater Is shown up to good advantage 
in comparison. 

And don't be In the least surprised at the odd 
shapes to some of these little old fish teasers. 



ii8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Many an old " he-whop," that should have known 
better, has fallen to the lure of a plug that looks no 
more like his regular line of eats than " Uncle 
Tom " looks like Sandy Klaws. And keep in mind 
that every plug in the deck is a fish-getter, and that, 
if you give it a good try-out and keep it moving in 
the water, you are likely to surprise yourself as well 
as the fish by landing a whopper. 



EARLY SEASON PLUGS 

For the early season plug casting, when the bass 
are in the near shore shallows trying to coax a little 
warmth out of the low water after a hard winter, 
the sure-fire winner in the wooden bait line is the 
surface or semi-surface plug. For this shallow 
water stuff, you don't find it necessary to go way 
down for them and most of the floaters wiggle along 
from a foot to two feet below the surface anyway, 
which is plenty deep enough to catch the eye of the 
bass that may be kicking around along the route of 
the dippy, diving plug. Then again, in the early 
season the big majority of the strikes come the in- 
stant the plug hits the water, or as it starts on the 
retrieve. For this reason the surface plugs are far 
better than the underwater variety because they save 
endless trouble in snagging on the sunken logs and 
windfalls which, generally, are found in the shore 
waters selected by the bass as feeding grounds. 
Windfalls, underwater logs and brush heaps make 
the natural hiding place for the bass, and when you 
have to cast in among 'em, without any knowledge 
as to protruding limbs and snags, the fact that you 
have a floater will save time, trouble and your sweet 
disposition. To get a strike and a snag at the same 

119 



I20 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

time Is enough to make any fellow toss off a line of 
" langwedge " equal if not superior to the star out- 
burst of a freshv/ater sallorman. 

As to the color that seems to make the game fins 
cross-eyed to get at it, the white with a bit of red 
has it all over the balance of the paint box, and this 
little line of info is not chalked up from the expe- 
rience of one person, but from the data jotted down 
from the fishing experiences of some two hundred 
Waltons of the water trails. As a good bet on the 
early season plug, make your favorites the white 
and red combination. The red may only be a dash 
on the nose of the lure, along the flutes or on the 
head or top, but wherever it is, it adds to the at- 
tractiveness and seems to make big boys fightin' mad 
to wallop it. The next best bet in the color line 
is the green and white, the combination generally be- 
ing a crackled green back with a white belly. Fol- 
lowing this comes the rainbow and perch colors 
which lope in about neck and neck. With this lay- 
out of colors you should be prepared for most any 
water and weather condition, also for the varied 
feelings of the big bass as to the color that tickles 
'em into a striking humor. And not only for the 
early season fishing will these colors be useful, but 
any time later they will be found a fine selection for 
the kit. 

And tucked away in this grab-bag of plug lore 
garnered from the actual fishing experiences of over 



EARLY SEASON PLUGS 121 

two hundred of the keen fellows who angle for the 
gamy bass is one big point that stands out like a sore 
thumb, and that is the fact that the smaller-sized 
plugs are coming strong as sure-enough interest cre- 
ators among the game fins. Not so long ago all the 
plugs were three to five inches long, but some prac- 
tical chap in the tackle line slipped onto the smaller 
stuff and believe me, old-timer, there is a surprise in 
store for you, if you have overlooked the short, 
stubby " little fellers." They have a mighty nice 
casting weight and they act up in the water some- 
thing scandalous, with a jerky, sliding crawl that 
puts a crick in the back of a bass in his mad rush to 
give it the double O. And another thing that helps 
peg up a little more credit for the small-sized plugs, 
and that is you get very few short strikes with them, 
which of course means that your strike is more effec- 
tive. 

For the fellows who are not particularly fond of 
the trebled hooks on the plug, they can be had in 
most cases with either single hooks attached or with 
the twin hook. This twin hook is practically weed- 
less, as the hooks ride barbed point up, which also 
makes them just about snagless; two points in the 
favor of the twin hooks that should make them very 
popular in addition to which it is considered by 
many anglers as a more sportsmanlike lure. How- 
ever as far as hooking qualities go, I think that the 
upriding twin hooks are more effective on the strike 



122 FISHING, TACKI.E AND KITS 

even than the trebles, and you are more likely to hook 
'em for keeps with either the twin hooks or the 
singles, as the hook has more chance to work in and 
stay set than if the fish is hooked on the trebled 
affairs. 

The main howl about the trebled hooks on the 
plugs is that there are so many of them on a lure, 
some plugs being armed fore and aft with five 
trebles, making 15-pointed barbs waiting for the 
luckless fish, while singles on the same plug would 
only make five points that the game fin would have 
to evade in his effort to sink his teeth in the wonder- 
fully colored chunk of red cedar. It is seldom that 
a fish is hooked at the strike on more than one barb 
on a plug, and it is a mighty delicate question to 
answer, whether he would have been hooked or not 
had the plug been armed with singles. I believe 
that the single hooks are just as killing as the treble, 
in fact more so, but that the playing and netting of 
the fish so hooked, takes just a little keener tackle 
skill on the part of the angler than if the fish is 
originally hooked on a treble hook. 

Among the plugs that make a taking selection for 
the early season fishing are the Coaxer, which is a 
sort of an imitation of a pork chunk tailed with red 
feathers, it is small and a great little surface agi- 
tator, the felt wings and body throwing up quite a 
swirl as it comes in for the next cast. The Jim 
Dandy plug which has a staggering, slow crawl 



EARLY SEASON PLUGS 123 

through the water, like a wounded minnow and a 
" bacon getter." The Baby Crab Wiggler which 
lives up to its name and wiggles into the affections 
of the big fins with remarkable ease. It has a back- 
ward crawl that would do credit to a live crawfish. 
The Babe-oreno, the child of the Bass-oreno and the 
little cuss has inherited all the good points of its 
dad with the added value of being small. The 
Tango, Jr. and the Tango Midget, two surface plugs 
that have the sure-enough minnow crawl of the 
larger Tangos. 

Then there are the Pflueger-Surprise minnow, 
which is a wooden plug without any hardware tacked 
on to make it dart, and it sure has a darting motion 
that gets 'em; the Creek Chub Wiggler with its nat- 
ural scale finish and a wonderful minnow-like dart- 
ing swim, and the Wilson Wobbler with the famous 
flutes that send it through the water with a swim- 
ming motion just as natural as the live minnow; the 
McCormic Mermaid Minnow with its peculiar wig- 
gling swim and the Schoonie Skooter which has a 
wonderfully developed dart that is quite like the 
natural minnow, not to forget the Liar Bait which 
glides along with a motion that is some enticing to 
the game fish family. Then there is the Getsem 
Bait, a pork chunk shaped plug that rides along with 
a wobble that brings 'em right up to the surface. 



HOOKS THAT HOOK'EM AND 
HOLD'EM 

One little part of the outfit about which the aver- 
age every-now-an'-then fisherman does not bother 
about, any more than the law allows, is the hook. 
And the hook, old-timer, is a mighty important piece 
of the tackle layout. Particularly is this true in 
still fishing, where a decided strike is given to set 
the hook and in bait-casting with live bait, the min- 
now, frog, crawfish and such other natural foods of 
the game fins. Quite a number of the boys who skip 
off for a couple of weeks fishing wait until the last 
minute on the hook question and then generally 
get a few of this and a few of that and let'ergo at 
that. 

In the making of hooks there are two styles of 
point and barb which class the hook as a real affair 
or just an ordinary one. These distinctive styles 
are the hollow point and the spear point. The hol- 
low point is hand cut and is used on all first-class 
hooks and on hooks that you can depend on to have 
strength and staying qualities when you need them, 
while the spear point is a point and barb made by 
machinery and used on the hooks that come at about 
ten cents a hundred. One good hollow point hook 

124 



HOOKS THAT HOOK 'EM AND HOLD 'EM 125 

will last practically as long as a hundred of the spear 
pointers and there Is not one hundredth as much 
chance of it snapping off when the big fellow heads 
for the weed-bed or the underwater snag. 

I recall one experience which brought me up sud- 
denly to a resolve to always test out my hooks before 
taking them on a fishing trip. A few years ago I 
had tied a dozen or so flies for a try at the opening 
of the season and had tied these flies on a bunch of 
hooks from the same box. Although I had a num- 
ber of strong strikes I failed to hold any of the 
large fish and seemed to be able to bring to net only 
the smallest of the tribe. After a few disappoint- 
ments, accompanied by the usual vocal explosions, 
I gave my flies a close once over and found that the 
hooks upon which they were tied had about the 
strength of the ordinary copper wire — just a bit 
harder to bend than lead. This box of hooks had 
worked through without being tempered and were 
worthless for fishing. You can stack a nice bunch 
of whites on it that I thoroughly examined every 
hook after that and you cannot be too careful, old 
scout, in testing out your hooks before tying your 
flies or taking them along in the kit for still or bait 
fishing. 

The hooks most generally used for trout, bass, 
pike and musky are the Sproat, O'Shaughnessy, Lim- 
erick, Cincinnati Bass, Carlisle, Sneck and Aberdeen, 
by which you will note they are all from the other 



126 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

side of the water and this includes the Cincinnati 
Bass, which is an American style but usually made 
at Redditch, England, which is the home of the fish- 
hook. All of these hooks have their followers and 
they have different bends, with either the point par- 
alleling the shaft or with an outward twist which 
throws the point a trifle off at an angle with the 
shaft. By some the off-bent point is considered an aid 
in the strike and to others, who swear by the straight 
point, it is shuffled into the discard as being N. G. 
For both fly tying and for bait fishing I like a bit of 
an off-bend in my hooks but for regular still fishing 
I use the straight pointer. On this score, old man, 
the only thing to do is to try both styles and use the 
one that strikes your fancy as the one best bet; 
either way from the Jack, both makes are good 
hooks and you will probably end up the contest by 
carrying a few of each, which is a wise little move 
at that. 

About the most popular all round hooks are the 
Sproat and the O'Shaughnessy and these two hooks 
are almost identical with the exception of the bend 
to the points. The Sproat being a hook with the 
point on a line with the shaft commonly called a 
center draught, and the O'S. having the point twisted 
a bit to starboard. They are both strong, powerful 
and with a short shank that makes them equal to the 
kick of any game fin. These short squatty hooks 
don't show up very well when laid alongside of the 



HOOKS THAT HOOK 'EM AND HOLD 'EM 127 

trim and classy looking, long-shanked Aberdeen, but 
they are sure built for business and when you strike 
with them they dig right through the mouth and 
they are there to stay. Although the Aberdeen is 
a good looker, and has a fine spring to it, if you 
are after the big fellows and hope to hold'em when 
you hook'em, save your Aberdeens for the smaller 
fins and place your bet on the roughnecks, or until 
you have developed a line of skill in playing your 
fish that will enable you to land 'em with the least 
amount of strain on any part of your tackle. 

The Limerick or the " Dublin " Limerick is an ex- 
cellent hook, the bend and form are somewhat simi- 
lar to the O'Shaughnessy, but the wire used in mak- 
ing this hook is slightly smaller than that of the 
O'S. The Dublin Limerick is hand forged and a 
particularly strong hook. 

Of the hooks with the point out-bent, about the 
best is the Cincinnati Bass, which is a short-shank, 
sturdy looking hook and equal any day in strength 
to the Sproat or O'S. The Carlisle is of the long- 
shank variety, with the out bend to the point and 
although the style of the hook is somewhat on the 
order of the Aberdeen, with the out bend exception, 
it is a very good hook and a stronger one than the 
Aberdeen. 

A hook with a bend entirely its own is the Sneck 
which has almost a square off bend at the lower end. 
The out bend of this hook throws the point con- 



128 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

siderably out of line with the shaft, more so In fact 
than either the Cincinnati or Carhsle. The bend in 
the latter two hooks being made in such a way as to 
keep the point even with the shank; this is accom- 
pHshed by starting the out bend at the base of the 
shank, while the out-pointing of the Sneck starts 
after the first bend on the shank. 

Taken all the way through, any of these hooks 
are worthy of a place In the tackle box and after 
you have passed the " hooks is hooks " end of the 
game you will probably tie up with a certain style 
that has been found just the type of a hook to 
answer to your particular method of playing the 
game boys, and by that bend and make you will 
swear as the one best bet in the hookery. 



A BIT ABOUT STEEL RODS 

For the beginner at bait-casting, old scout, the 
steel rod is about the best all-round bet in the rod 
end of the game, and at that there is no reason why 
it is not a handy tool for any old bait caster. For 
the fellow who has sort of post-graduated at the 
sport, and who loves the feel of the split-bamboo 
and knows how to treat it, there is still room in his 
kit for a steel rod for certain kinds of casting, and 
it's a one-hundred-to-one shot that you will find him 
armed with one of these husky battlers. 

Of course in speaking of the steel rod of the pres- 
ent day one does not refer to the heavy, cumbersome 
rods first brought into the fishing game, and from 
which some anglers have based their opinions of 
the steel rod in general, and by which they have 
eternally damned it thereafter, but to the whippy, 
snappy, arching steel rod that has just the amount of 
resiliency to give to the forceful rush of a fighting 
bass and to come back to normal without breaking 
its back. The light-weight steel rod of the five and 
a half foot length is a casting tool to please the most 
ultra-conservative highbrow in the casting game, if 
he would only give it a bit of a trial before shooting 
the skids under it. 

129 



I30 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

STEEL ROD IS POPULAR 

Take any lake in the North woods country or 
close-in on " civilized " waters, and you will find 
that the majority of keen fellows who toss the ar- 
tificials do their bit of tossing with the steel rod. 
They are so far ahead in count that you wonder why 
the other fellow has failed to get one. Naturally 
there is a reason for this popularity of the steel tool 
with the fellows who do their fishing on the water 
and not on the front porch at the club. And this 
big reason, old-timer, is that the steel rod is a 
trusty tool, it seldom if ever gets out of order and 
there is very little chance of breaking it unless you 
step on it or give it some other wallop for which 
it never was intended. Even at that you can care- 
fully bend it back into shape and still find it willing 
to do its share in the casting game. 

For the emergency rod when on a fishing trip in 
the country where rods are hmited to what you carry 
with you, you have to slip the blue ribbon to the 
steel rod. Break the tip of your favorite split- 
bamboo while out on the water trails, and you have 
no recourse but to slow up on the fishing, while if 
you have a nice little steel rod trotting along as a 
partner, you cast until your arm drops. Naturally 
a fellow does not treat his tackle roughly or give it 
any more hard knocks than possible, but there are 
times when accidents happen, and about the best 



A BIT ABOUT STEEL RODS 131 

insurance against accidents in the rod line is the steel 
rod. The fact that it is built strong and sturdy 
simply means that it will stand up under harder wear 
than any other kind of a rod and in the pack or on 
the portage it will get through without damage. 

As to the length of the steel rod make it about a 
five and a half footer, or longer or shorter, if you 
find that the different length seems to carry the 
" feel " that you wish in a rod. The five and a 
half foot casting rod is about the average and in the 
light steel rod makes an ideal caster. 

AGATE GUIDES THE BEST 

When you consider that a line shoots out thou- 
sands of times through the guides in a day's casting, 
you realize the amount of wear to which the line is 
subjected. The friction caused by this rubbing of 
the line on the guides soon frays it, and as lines cost 
good money, you will find that agate guides on the 
rod will cut down the upkeep in the line end of the 
game. This friction is particularly heavy on the 
tip and the first guide from the reel seat and these at 
least should be of agate, although it costs but little 
more to have the entire set of guides of that mate- 
rial. Medium-sized guides are the best. Agate 
guides add at least three times to the life of the 
casting line, and that makes 'em a mighty good in- 
vestment, and tough luck to the linemakers. 

In addition to the regular hand grip, the rod fitted 



132 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

with the forward hand grip above the reel seat are 
certainly winners. This little old cork affair sure 
makes the work of reeling in the line a regular 
dream, makes laying the line evenly on the reel easy 
and takes away from the game a mighty tiring piece 
of business. It gives you a firm hold on the rod 
and adds to your efficiency in playing your fish with- 
out unnecessary straining of the finger muscles. 
And it makes the transfer of the rod from the cast- 
ing hand to the other hand a faster, steadier propo- 
sition so that you can start the bait back quickly 
after its splash in the water, which is a mighty im- 
portant thing in the bait-casting stunt. You gotta 
keep that bait movin' to interest the game fins, and 
here is a little helper in the movin' operation. 

FINGER PULL A WINNER 

For the beginner at the casting game, get a rod 
with a finger hook or pull. The finger pull gives 
you a firm hold on the rod and at the same time 
keeps the reel from becoming unseated through the 
reel band working loose as the hook is attached to 
the reel band. Of course you never intend to have 
your reel work loose when fishing, but there are few 
of the clan who can truthfully say that they have 
never had this happen. Last season I " sat-in " at 
a finish fight when a friend hooked a 30-pound 
musky, and during the rumpus kicked up by this old 
rascal the pal's reel became unhorsed and slipped 



A BIT ABOUT STEEL RODS 133 

into the lake, and you can take It from me, old 
scout, there was some tall scrambling to get that 
reel out of the drink and back onto the rod without 
losing the fish. And he was no amateur at that; it 
was simply an accident that will happen in the best- 
regulated fishing parties. 

As to price, dollar for dollar, you can get far 
more value in a steel rod than any other. Putting 
say five to eight dollars into a steel rod means that 
you will get a rod that will last for years and all 
you have to do with it is give it a bit of care and 
wipe it off occasionally with a little oil. Of course 
you dry it every night, after using it, before you tuck 
it away in its trundle bed. And whatever you do to 
the rod^ old top, don't twist it in taking it apart, if 
it sticks dt the ferrules, that's something no rod will 
stand for. 



A BIT ABOUT REELS 

There is a great difference in the use of the reel 
in the fishing game and what reel to use in the dif- 
ferent classes of the angling derby. There are two 
styles of reels generally used, the single action or 
click reel for fly-casting, and the quadruple-multiplier 
for bait-casting, and sometimes the double-multipher 
for still fishing or trolling, although most fellows use 
their quadruple-multiplier for the latter styles of 
fishing. 

The single action or click reel used in fly-fishing 
is merely a storage place for line, as the line is not 
cast from the reel as in bait-casting. The line is 
grasped by the left hand between the reel and the 
first guide, and any lengthening or shortening of the 
line is done with this hand. As the slack accumu- 
lates, the rod is shifted to the left hand and the 
slack wound on the reel with the right hand. The 
reel is neither used in casting or landing the fish. 

ELIMINATE EXCESS WEIGHT 

For the reason that the reel in fly-casting is not 
used in casting nor in killing the fish, the reel for 
this end of the game is made as simple and light as 
possible, and yet strong enough to do its share of 

134 



The demand for a feel that would do more than merely run out 
the line and at the same time help the beginner learn the bait casting 
game in a few hours has brought out the reel that eliminates back- 
lashes, level winds the line and is a free spooler. And these reels 
certainly do make bait casting easy for the fellow who has not the 
time to learn the art of thumbing the spinning reel spool. 

Illustration No. 1 is the famous Pflueger-Supreme reel, a 
wonderful tool that does ever3'thing a fellow could ask a reel to do 
and then some. This reel saves the tired'.'fingers due to guiding the 
line on the spool on the retrieve, throws a perfect cast without re- 
tarding the. line and it is a hard thing to .do to produce a backlash 
with it. . :' ' ■ . . • 

Illustration No. .2 is tin well-known South Bend Antibacklash 
reel, the antibacklash being prevented by the pressure of the wire bale 
across the frant of the spool which bears directly on the outgoing 
line. It is a very well made refl and a fine worker. 

Illustration No. 3 is a very popular reel, the Pflueger-Redifor 
Antibacklash reel and this moderate priced tool does the work as well 
as many higher priced ones, living up to the reputation of the Pflueger 
reel family. With this reel, an amateur can do clean casting in an 
hour or so. _ .' 

Illustration No. 4 is the smooth running Beetz^ell, a free spool, 
level winding antibacklash reel that makes bait casting a real joy 
jaunt. It is a very fine tool and it does everything said about it. If 
lays an evei\Hne^ throws a clean cast and; reduces backlashes to zero. 



:lji 



A BIT ABOUT REELS 135 

the work. The elimination of excess in weight gives 
balance to the light fly-rod which is necessary to 
make your casting right. For this reason it is well 
to have your fly-rod with you when selecting a fly- 
reel in order to get one that balances well with the 
weight of the rod. The light feather-weight click 
reels which have a cutout scrolled frame make a 
good style reel that balances with nearly any light- 
weight fly-rod. The correct position of the click 
reel is underneath the rod, with the handle to the 
right, the reel, of course, being placed on the reel 
seat below the grip. 

On the stream while fly-casting there are often 
enough little jinx that lie in wait for the fisherman. 
Perhaps the back-casts hang up a bit, or the leaders 
develop a desire to tangle up or you slip on a nice 
juicy bowlder and take a flop into the drink, so why 
add to the layout by using a quadruple-multiplier 
and tangle up the line on the projecting reel handle 
which seems to gather up more loops in the fly-cast- 
ing line than one could imagine could be bunched 
together in such a short period. On the click reels 
the handle revolves within protecting bands, while 
on some of the reels the handle is entirely eliminated 
and a revolving disk with a small projecting knob 
takes the place of the handle. Then again if, at 
times, you should resort to the reel in playing your 
trout or bass, the speed at which you would unin- 
tentionally reel in the line if using a quadruple-mul- 



136 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

tiplier would probably mean a damaged piece of 
tackle, as the lightness of the fly-rod generally used 
would not stand the strain of the speedy reeling in 
against the kick of a livewire fin. The single-action 
reel is equal to any emergency in fly-fishing for trout 
or bass, although where the bass range to a large 
size it is sometimes an advantage to have the speed 
of the double-multiplier, in which case, however, it 
is well to have tackle somewhat heavier than the 
light-weight stuff generally used. 

THE RIGHT SIZE REEL 

In selecting a single-action reel make it a point 
to secure one of one hundred yards capacity, as this 
size is just about right to take care of twenty-five 
yards of size E enameled waterproof silk line with 
a core of old line, say about five yards. This back- 
ing or core, being wound onto the spindle to build 
up the actual casting line so as to increase the speed 
a bit in retrieving the slack. A mighty good single- 
action reel can be bought for a dollar, and if you 
want a real aristocrat in this style of reel, five dol- 
lars stakes you to a beauty. 

As the click reel stands out the one best bet In 
the fly-casting end, the quadruple-multiplier is the 
only thing in the bait-casting line. Wherein the 
single-action reel plays a small part in the casting, 
the quadruple with its speed is what makes bait-cast- 
ing the joy it really is. On the single-action reel the 



A BIT ABOUT REELS 137 

handle revolves but once with the spool, while on 
the bait-casting reel the spool revolves four times to 
the one revolution of the handle, therefore the name 
quadruple-multiplier. And this speed of the spool 
is what makes the rapid retrieve of the line possible 
with little effort on the part of the fisherman. This 
speed of the bait-casting reel is, however, not only 
an advantage in retrieving the line, but it is what 
makes possible the medium long casts necessary in 
this end of the game. Then again, after you hook 
a fish, old-timer, you don't speed him into the net 
as fast as the reel can run. This would not only 
endanger tackle and the loss of the fish, but you 
would miss the fine sport of playing the game fins in 
their effort to make a getaway. 

REEL POSITION ADDS TO CAST 

In using the bait-casting reel it should always be 
placed on the top of the rod with the handle to the 
right, and should be kept in this position when cast- 
ing and playing the fish, with one exception, and that 
is as the stroke of the cast is made and the line sings 
out through the guides. At this time the rod should 
be held so that the reel stands on its end, that is the 
side or end plates should be parallel with the water 
when the cast is finished, the rod turned in towards 
the caster in order to bring the reel to this position. 
In this way the spindle or spool ends rest in the 
bearings and the reel spool spins correctly on the 



138 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

end pinions and not on the side of the spool which 
would be the case if the cast were made with the 
reel spool perfectly parallel with the water. It is 
surprising the additional casting power one will se- 
cure with the reel in the correct position and at the 
same time there is far less line friction when the 
cast is made this way. 

The best bait-casting reels are of the long low 
spool design, and you can get a good one around 
six or eight dollars. Of course, if you want to hit 
the high spots and get a tool built like a watch, you 
can go as high as the roof and get a reel that will 
last throughout your fishing days and be an heir- 
loom to hand down to your descendants. The main 
thing with the bait-casting reel is to give it a show 
for its life, and not take it apart every now and then 
to see what makes it run so smoothly. 



BACKLASHES AND THE REASON 

There Is one little old visitor to the bait-casting 
end of the game that is generally sneaking in when 
you least expect him and at times he sticks around 
until you run out of cuss words. This pal of the 
high and low among the casters is Mistah Backlash. 
What makes 'em do it? Three or four good, clean 
casts, then the piled-up j amble of line on the reel 
spool and the untangling process that eats at the 
very soul of the fisherman as he tries to remain per- 
fectly calm while his more fortunate and experi- 
enced pal gives him the scornful once-over. But the 
pal's time will come, shortly, when as he fails to 
finger the line closely while reeling in and his next 
cast piles her up, the beginner takes a turn at the 
once-overing stunt. 

Improper thumbing of the line as it leaves the 
reel on the cast, carelessness in evenly laying the 
line on the spool in the retrieving and trying to make 
too much distance in the cast are sure-fire invitations 
of the backlash. I know one expert at the game, 
a chap at the casting stunt, in fact, who every now 
and then sits-in with a backlash. Although he 
usually looks at his reel in an accusing sort of a way, 
to shift suspicion to that fine-running tool, it's a ten- 

139 



I40 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

to-one shot that he merely slipped up a bit on his at- 
tention to the game and therefore the backlash. 

THE ORDINARY VARIETY 

Probably the most common cause of the backlash 
is to be found in the thumbing. And the time when 
the backlash starts on its wicked course is when the 
plug or bait slows up in its flight through the air 
and the reel spool spinning fast in fine bearings con- 
tinues to pass out the line, which having no weight 
or pull, to take it out through the guides, merely 
piles up on the spool in the glorious tangles we have 
all experienced. 

To cut down the number of backlashes at this 
point, the thumbing of the line should be given more 
attention. The thumb should never be taken en- 
tirely off the line on the spool. Keep a bit of pres- 
sure on the line all the time, it naturally will be slight 
when the plug or bait is in full flight, but that slight 
pressure of the thumb keeps you in control of the 
line at all times. At the start of the cast the thumb 
is firmly pressed on the spool, as the rod sweeps to 
verticle, begin the release of the spool by taking off 
the thumb pressure and as the rod sweeps out in 
front of you, continue to release the thumb pressure 
until the spool spins freely and swiftly, the line 
barely touching the thumb as it works out. 

So far there has been no cause for the backlash 
that is flirting around your reel, but he is waiting for 



BACKLASHES AND THE REASON 141 

a chance to jump in if you fail to clamp the thumb 
hard and fast on the reel spool when the plug has 
made its flight and is about to settle on the water. 
Keep your eyes on the plug and not on the reel — 
when the plug is about a foot or two above the point 
on the water where you wish it to fall, press the 
thumb down hard on the reel spool and stop it. This 
little point will kill more backlashes than any other 
angle of the bait-casting game. But don't forget to 
keep the eyes on the bait and off the reel. 

ANOTHER REASON FOR 'EM 

Of course, backlashes often come to a healthy 
growth before your cast goes as far as the particu- 
lar spot at which you are aiming. In fact they will 
sometimes develop right after the lure starts on its 
flight, and a backlash of this kind is generally due 
to the fact that you have lazied a bit in guiding the 
line evenly on the spool while reeling in. Probably 
the line has lovingly crawled up on one of the end 
plates of the spool or developed a wonderful hump 
in the middle that would make a camel jealous. In 
either event, old-timer, you are coaxing a backlash 
on the next cast, and no amount of clever thumbing 
will save you from piling 'em up before the cast is 
finished. A heap of time will be saved in casting if 
care is given the reeling in of the line. Of course 
a fellow can be excused for piling up the line if he 
has an old " he-whop " bass on the business end of 



142 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the line. The excitement of playing a game fin 
makes watching the reel a matter of small im- 
portance, but when you are reeling in the line, just 
hopin' for the strike, you are preparing for the next 
cast and the line should be evenly spooled as an in- 
surance against the backlash. 

HELPS THE TIRED FINGERS 

The level winding reel is a mighty handy tool to 
eliminate the tiresome finger work in spooling the 
line, and the fact that the line works through a line 
carrier is no logical objection to this reel, as the line 
carrier does not retard the line sufficiently to shorten 
the cast and it sure does save a lot of trying work on 
the fingers in a day's casting. And at the same time 
it speeds up the game so that more actual casting 
can be done and thus more water will be covered. 

Trying to throw your bait way over to " hellen- 
gone " is another way to encourage the backlash. 
The beginner at the casting game, somehow gets the 
idea that unless he can shoot out his hundred feet 
of line on a cast, the rest of the boys will think that 
he is an amateur. So he makes a swipe that nearly 
tears his arm out of the socket and the lure speeds 
out to nowhere in particular. In order to coax it 
along a bit he lifts the thumb clean off the spool and, 
after sorting out the backlash he rows to shore and 
pulls the plug out of a jack pine. Once in a while 
you get a squirrel or a pine cone that way, but very 



BACKLASHES AND THE REASON 143 

few fish. A 30 to 50-foot cast is plenty distance for 
most any casting, and a cast of this length means 
accuracy in placing the lure in the weed pocket or 
close to the edge of the rushes or windfall, and it 
certainly is poor encouragement for our old pal, 
Mistah Backlash. 



A BIT ABOUT TROLLING 

Although trolling does not rank way up In the 
angling art with some of the other methods of hook- 
ing the game fins, old-timer, it is deserving of far 
more credit than it receives. Trolling is not merely 
dangling a line out behind the boat and hoping for 
the best, but to troll and troll successfully, requires a 
keen knowledge of fish and fishing waters. Of 
course you can troll around all day and get fish, but 
to make the time pay dividends in fish, means that 
you troll over waters where the fish are most likely 
to be and not waste half the time dragging your lure 
or bait through any old water and think that you 
are trolling. 

Trolling does not take quite the expertness of 
casting in the initial operation, but after a large- 
sized bronze-backer has connected up with your troll- 
ing lure, it takes a bit keener work to get the hundred 
feet or more of line in before he wraps it around a 
snag or windfall, than it does to work in the fifty 
feet that is generally out when they strike on the 
cast. 

TROLLING IN BETWEEN TIMES 

Then again, after a few hours casting, taking a 
whirl at trolling, rests up the pitching arm and often 

144 



A BIT ABOUT TROLLING 145 

saves you from a " charley horse " for the evennig 
performance with the plugs and Hve bait. Trolling 
with the ordinary base tackle makes the game one 
for the sportsman and there are a bunch of thrills 
tied up in landing your bass, pike or musky via the 
trolling route, with just as many jumps to the nerve 
system as in the casting stunt. 

In the trolling stunt, old-timer, you can play a lone 
hand, while casting at the best is a two-man job, one 
at the oars and one at the rod. A mighty handy 
helper in the trolling game is the rod holder, al- 
though it is not a necessity. It holds your rod in the 
correct position, ready for the strike the instant the 
game fins tickle the lure. At all times the rod 
should point out behind the boat and not at right 
angles as the latter method subjects the rod to a 
continuous strain that any self-respecting rod would 
resent. 

There is one point to the trolling game that gen- 
erally means success or failure, and that is the speed 
at which you move along. Troll slowly, very 
slowly; in fact, more fish are lost by rowing the boat 
too fast in this method of fishing than any other 
way. Move the boat along at an easy, slow crawl, 
just enough to keep the lure moving. This is par- 
ticularly necessary in trolling with the spoon, the 
ideal trolling lure. To keep the spoon spinning 
is all that is needed and if you keep your eye on the 
tip of the rod you can tell by the trembling bobbing 



146 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

movement of the tip whether your spoon is spin- 
ning or whether you have picked up a trailing bunch 
of weeds. Weeds are, of course, the greatest pest 
in this sport, but where there are weeds you usually 
find the fish, so they are a necessary evil. When you 
hook up with a nice handful, or snag on the sturdy 
stem of the water lily, the only thing to do is backup 
and clean the lure. No fish will plow his way 
through a bunch of weeds to take a wallow at your 
lure. 

TROLL DEEP FOR THEM 

In the latter part of July and August the bass are 
usually in the deep waters and among the underwater 
weeds and at this time when you have failed to 
awaken their curiosity with surface casting, you can 
take a chance at trolling and generally interest them. 
When the lakes are " working " or " in bloom," and 
the days are a bit hot, go after them with the trolling 
layout when they are down among the weeds with 
no more pep than to grab what food passes their 
Lounging place. They may not be overly hungry but 
they will answer to the flash of battle shot out by 
your passing lure and take a strike at it, which is all 
that a fellow can ask for. Naturally one is willing 
to unhorse a bunch of weeds every now and then, if 
he can land a few nice bass, especially if the other 
fellows are not finding .much use for the stringer via 
the casting method. 



A BIT ABOUT TROLLING 147 

Not only will you find the bass interested in the 
trolled lure, but also the musky and pike seem to be 
particularly fond of it and some of the largest wall- 
eyed pike have come to glory that way. In trolling 
for the musky and pike you will find it well to troll 
along the edges of the weed-beds as well as over 
them as they have a habit of lying along such places 
waiting for the little fellows to pass along. As the 
wall-eye is naturally a bottom fish, the trolling lure 
is of interest to them and as they are great feeders, 
you can count on a few for the stringer. If you land 
one of them troll around a spell in the same waters 
as they always travel in schools and where you get 
one you can figure on a few more from the same 
locality. 

USE UNDERWATER PLUGS ONLY 

In the matter of artificial plugs you will use the 
underwater variety altogether and you will not find 
it necessary to use a sinker because the underwaters 
are weighted themselves and sink, sometimes too 
fast and hook up on the bottom. However, if you 
keep them moving slowly you will have very little 
trouble with snagging. As to colors of the plugs 
you will be governed by what has been successful in 
the waters you fish, but as a general thing, the rain- 
bow, perch, green back and white belly and white 
and red have been found good colors for most 
waters. 



148 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

A single spoon, about a No. 4 to No, 6, makes a 
good trolling bait or the smaller sizes, say about a 
No. 2 or No. 3 tandem spoon, i's well worth the 
tryout. You can use the spoon simply with the 
trebled hook, but I find that the added attraction of 
a minnow or shiner, a pork-rind or frog hooked 
onto the spoon Is more enticing to the game fins. 

Trolling slowly and In the waters where your 
piscatorial knowledge tells you fish should be is 
bound to get the fish, and that is what we are usually 
after when we go a-fishlng. When they fail to 
answer to the coaxing splash of the cast plug, meet 
'em half way and go after them with the underwater 
trolling dope and It's a sure shot that you will find 
use for the stringer — but troll slowly, that's the big 
point. 



TACKLE BOX ODDS AND ENDS 

The tackle box, the great little ditty box of many 
a keen fellow who answers to the cheerful call of 
the lakes and streams, Is really a treasure-trove to 
the owner. And many are the kinks and wrinkles 
he has worked out for his own use that add to his 
pleasures in his quest of the game fins. Many 
tackle boxes are heavy with the accumulation of odds 
and ends that may not be used very often, but a fel- 
low hates to pass them up so he continues to stuff 
the old box until the bulge It assumes would do 
credit to a well-noodled Watertown goose. 

The tackle box proper, loaded to the gunwales 

with this varied assortment, which the outlander 

terms " junk," Is generally used merely as a carryall 

from the home town to the camp or fishing resort 

and not toted Into the boat each day nor on the trail, 

but is stationed at the permanent camp and delved 

into as need be by the happy owner, to make up the 

selection of lures and baits to be used according to 

weather and water conditions. It Is also a sort of 

repair kit and is the base from which the tools of 

the trade are put in shape for the foray on the wily 

tallkickers. 

149 



I50 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

SMALL PLIERS ARE USEFUL 

A mighty handy tool for the tackle box is a small 
pair of pliers, ordinary pliers that can be used in 
many ways when out in the woods far from the 
repair man. They should have a wire-cutting ar- 
rangement on one side, as this feature sure comes in 
handy many times during the trip. There are so 
many little repairs that can be made with the aid of 
the pliers that to leave them out of the kit would 
handicap the fisherman to a marked degree, while 
having them on hand at the right time may mean 
the making of a repair that would keep a favorite 
piece of the outfit in use for the remainder of the 
trip. 

The file, that rough little rascal with the three 
sides, is another friend of the tackle box that is of 
real value. To get the best use out of your hooks, 
you should keep them sharpened to a fine point, as 
far more success in setting the hook at the strike 
will follow if the hook is well pointed and not used 
continually after being blunted from contact with 
windfall and snag, not to mention the rocks and 
bowlders that insist in getting in the way of a per- 
fectly well-regulated hook point. Not only in 
sharpening the hooks will the file be found of real 
value, but off and on though the trip you will thank 
your stars that you have one tucked away in the 
tackle box. 



TACKLE BOX ODDS AND ENDS 151 



A LITTLE RED CLOTH 

Way down in the bottom of the box and not tak- 
ing up much room are a small pair of scissors. You 
can use them in many ways and always find them bet- 
ter than the pocket or belt knife for the cutting you 
find for them. You'll want to cut out a couple 
patches of wool cloth, the red stuff that makes the 
pike and bass cross-eyed to get at, from the little roll 
tucked away in the box, and nothing does the job 
better than the little pair of scissors. I have a 
small chunk of woolen cloth, part of an old switch- 
man's flag, that has been cut down time and again to 
rig up a special favorite coaxing bait of the pork- 
rind variety that always seems to make good when 
given a chance, and I never would feel that the old 
box was complete without that remnant of glaring 
red cloth, which is just the color to make 'em hop 
around in circles as it wiggles through the water. 
And right snug up to th'e red cloth is a little ball of 
red yarn that can be used to add a bit of color to 
the casting-bait. 

Of course we have the small screwdriver hidden 
away in the off corner, so that it is not too inviting 
to the itching palm that always seems to want to 
monkey with the reel and take it apart to see just 
what makes it run so darned smoothly, anyway. 
Outside of that, hov/ever, the screwdriver has a 



152 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

place In the kit and will come in for its share of use 
when on the waters. 

For the quick repair of the rod or the loose fer- 
rule you will find use for a tube of ferrule cement, 
while a tube of anglers' wax will come in handy for 
doctoring up the flies and snelling hooks. In the 
matter of oils, we have the one-drop-at-a-time oil 
can filled with the reel oil for use on the reels and 
the small can of three-in-one for general use. A bit 
of three-in-one on a rag and a little elbow grease 
used in wiping the casting line before the day's fish- 
ing will condition it so that it will pick up less water 
than otherwise, and at the same time cast a trifle 
smoother with less friction on the guides and tip. 

SINKERS AND SWIVELS 

A box of split-shot sinkers should be in every 
tackle box; they can be attached so easily and the 
amount of weight can be judged by adding another 
shot or two as the lure requires, that to be without 
them is unfortunate. A few dipsey sinkers with the 
swivel eye are excellent for casting with the lighter 
spoons and lures and there is room in the tackle box 
for a couple of the six-ounce size for the trolling rig 
for the deep water veterans and the bottom feeders, 
while the keel or kidney-shaped sinker, which al- 
ways rides right-side up in the water, will keep any 
bait in the correct position as it glides through the 



TACKLE BOX ODDS AND ENDS 153 

water, and it also prevents kinking or twisting of the 
line when casting or trolling. 

A small box of assorted-sized split rings are very 
useful and in the same box can be carried a few extra 
box or barrel swivels and the extra cooper snaps 
with which you can rig up a trolling outfit that will 
be a " safety-first " aginst twisting the line. 

As a saver of underwater plugs and spoon rigs, 
the clearing ring or releaser is a right smart tool. 
When you are far enough away from the source of 
supply and your favorite lure is snagged down be- 
low, just slip on the clearing ring and it goes down 
on its Annette Kellerman dive and loosens up the 
snagged lure in short order. It don't take up much 
room and is sure worth its weight in gold when you 
do need it. 

Most odds and ends of the tackle box are little 
things and they don't stand out like the rod and reel 
in the fishing game, but they are an army of willing 
" fellers," and when you need 'em, you need 'em 
bad, and they are always on the job, and do their bit 
to make the trip successful. 



A BIT ABOUT CANOES 

There are many models and styles in the canoe 
game, old-timer, some are designed for river work 
and the rough water you sometimes meet in the 
streams and others are shaped so that they ride a 
rough wind-whipped lake like a seagull. There are 
others that can be safely used for the sunset spoon- 
ing stuff of the beaches, but they are not the kind of 
craft that will stand the gaff of the river or rough 
lake trip. 

As an example, old scout, the canoe with the ends 
raised and with a bottom curved from bow to stern, 
is a dinger for river work, especially for rapids and 
rough water. This style canoe can be Instantly 
swung around on its center without the current get- 
ting a chance to grip the ends, but on a windy lake 
this craft, with Its raised ends, Is hard to keep 
straight In the wind for the reason that the exposed 
ends give surface for the wind to play upon. 

THE RIVER CANOE 

The model and style of a canoe should be selected 
according to the waters in which it Is to be used. 
For the river trip in the North woods for two men 
for two weeks with an outfit of from 150 to 200 

154 



A BIT ABOUT CANOES 155 

pounds, where some fast water and rapids will be 
run and some portaged, the canoe built for river 
work should be used. The ends should be raised 
higher than the center an«d the bottom slightly 
rounded. For length the i6-footer with a beam of 
not less than 32 inches and a depth of at least 12 
inches. The ends should be l-ong and slim for speed 
and there is no necessity to have much tumble-home 
or outward bulge. As to weight, 60 to 6^ pounds 
should be about right, making an easy weight to 
portage, and still be a strong craft. Less weight 
could probably be used in the canoe but not without 
sacrificing the strength to stand the buffeting of 
fast water and the rocks of the rapids. A shoe 
keel, usually made a half an inch thick and 
three inches wide in the center, tapering to the ends, 
will protect the canoe, and although it adds a bit of 
weight, it is worth it. 

THE LAKE MODEL 

For a trip in the lake country among a chain of 
lakes where the river run is limited to small connect- 
ing streams and where hardly any real fast water is 
found, the above canoe would not be the '* safety 
first " of the canoeing game. A two weeks' canoe 
trip for two fellows in this kind of waters would 
mean broad lakes to cross, heavy seas and various 
length portages according to depth of the water in 
some of the connecting outlets. The i6-footer 



156 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

should be flat-bottomed, straight-keeled with a beam 
of 34 inches and a depth of at least 13 inches. It 
is laid with the flat keel so that the ends will not be 
high enough to catch the wind, while wide outwales 
turn the combers and a good tumble-home keeps out 
some of the waves and adds stability to the craft. 
The weight can range between 65 and 70 pounds 
which gives it added strength to stand the strain of 
pitching in the rougher lake swells. The added 
inches in depth will make the canoe far better rider 
in the rough heavy seas. The width will be well 
carried into the bow and stern to assist in riding the 
waves, although this cuts out a bit of the speed of 
the craft. But speed in rough water is not as essen- 
tial as staying on top of the water. 

For a trip down civilized waters, or the streams 
near by, where one will find no portages except a 
power dam or so, and where enough help is generally 
lying around sunning itself, so that a portage can be 
made with their assistance for a couple two-bit 
pieces, then the lake model of say 17 feet in length 
is the best bet as it gives enough room to carry all 
the comforts of a home and still have space enough 
to loll around on the cushions while the current car- 
ries one down stream. 

VALUE OF SKILL IN HANDLING 

Take the experienced canoeman who can handle 
the paddle with as much skill as he can his casting 



A BIT ABOUT CANOES 157 

rod and give him a stretch of water made up of large 
lakes, river and streams with a fair bunch of speedy 
rapids and a few long tiresome portages and he 
would select a canoe for general service, depending 
on his skill with the paddle to handle it right under 
the different conditions. His selection would no 
doubt be a 16 footer with a depth of from 13 to 
14 inches, a beam of from 30 to 36 inches and a 
weight of 70 pounds. This canoe would have a 
decided tumble-home and the width and flat bottom 
would be carried well into the ends, all of which 
would add to the capacity, buoyancy and seaworthi- 
ness of the craft. Tbis little old ship would ride 
any gale and stand the rough knocks of the fast 
stream work and at the same time be a good speedy 
traveler. 

The one-man canoe Is generally a 13-footer with 
a weight of 50 pounds a beam of 34 inches and depth 
of 13 Inches. A flat bottom and tumble-home is 
necessary in this short craft to give it stability and 
capacity. This canoe can carry two men but she 
will sure ship a bunch of water when the going is 
rough. If three fellows wish to use one canoe the 
length should be at least 18 feet, although a 17- 
footer for three people with equipment for two 
weeks, should be at least 14 Inches deep with a beam 
of 36 or 37 Inches, while the i8-footer with a beam 
of at least 35 inches and a depth of 13 Inches would 
give more room for the duffle and paddlers. For 



158 FISHING, TACKI.E AND KITS 

the party of four on the canoe trip it is far better 
to use two i6-footers than to get into the heavy- 
weight freight canoe class. 

A few points to remember in selecting the canoe 
are, for quiet waters a depth of 1 1 inches is sufficient, 
for rivers 12 inches, and for lakes 13 inches; the 
width or beam for quiet waters may be 31 inches, 
where speed is desired rather than capacity and as 
greater stability and capacity are required the beam 
should be increased to 35 or 36 inches with the 
width well carried into the ends. For river work, 
the ends raised and the straight keel for the lakes. 
The round bottom is good for speed, but the flat 
bottom is there with the capacity and stability. 



CAMP KIT FOR CANOE TRIP 

You and the pal are a little party of two who 
intend to make a bit of a canoe trip, and you have 
doped up the game to a fare-you-well, but the outfit 
for the camp equipment has sort of landed you way 
up in the air. You will probably have a few port- 
ages and you want to keep the kit down as light as 
possible to save the shoulder and back muscles, yet 
you have a sort of hankering to " smooth it " a bit 
instead of roughing it altogether. 

There is a lot of satisfaction in going right in the 
matter of camp equipment and there is at the same 
time a wonderfully big variety of duffle that is just 
a case of being in the way if toted along on the canoe 
trip. I recall the first canoe trip at which I offi- 
ciated, my kit was a regular humdinger, it was all 
there at the start, but after carrying myself and my 
share of duffle over the first portage I began discard- 
ing things here and there on the way until at the end 
I had a mighty light pack to tote over the rough 
spots. 

AS TO THE TENT 

In the matter of tents, eliminate the duck or drill 
tent as they are too heavy and sure soak up the 

159 



i6o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

water. Select rather a tent of balloon silk or water- 
proofed khaki or tent cloth. The balloon silk is a 
little heavier than the others but very durable. A 
7-by-7 " A " tent of waterproof tent cloth will weigh 
eight pounds, and the balloon silk affair nine pounds. 
A Hudson's Bay model 6-by-9 tent weighs seven 
pounds, and seven and a half pounds in these ma- 
terials. While the snug little sportsman's compact 
tent weighs but three and a half and is a trim little 
affair. All of these models are complete with sod 
cloth, and when erected are snake and insect proof, 
although with the " A " style and the Hudson's bay 
ten, a cheesecloth door should be made to keep the 
skeeters and flies on the outside. 

A pack cloth of waterproofed canvas about 6 by 
8 and weighing around three to four pounds makes 
a fine carryall for the blankets and small things on 
the portage and as a ground spread and top cover 
at night, it keeps the dampness and cold from com- 
ing up from old Mother Earth. A standard-sized 
all-wool blanket weighing about six pounds is the 
real dope for the outdoors and it's plenty warm 
enough right up to the cold weather. If you carry 
two pack cloths and feel like sleeping under the stars, 
you can make a dandy sleeping bag by using the 
pack cloth and the blanket, doubling them with the 
pack cloth on the bottom and folded over the top. 
To make this pack cloth sleeping bag more snug 
you can pin the end and side with the large blanket 



CAMP KIT FOR CANOE TRIP i6i 

safety pins and you have a regular sure-enough 
sleeper. One blanket to a fellow is plenty, and if 
you wish to ease up the bed a bit, cut a bunch of bal- 
sam boughs and place them on the ground, bow side 
up with the twig ends working down towards the 
feet. The bow side up makes a natural spring, but 
don't be afraid to cut enough balsam. 

THE COOKING KIT 

For the cooking utensils cut out the enamelware 
which chips, or the tin and iron which rusts, and 
stack your cards on the Wear-ever aluminum. You 
will need one pot with cover 7/4"by-5/^ capacity, 
four quarts coffee pot with folding handle and ball 
5-by-7^ capacity, two and a quarter quarts, one 
pan 9-by-3 with folding handle for mixing and serv- 
ing, one steel frying pan ioj4-by-2 with folding 
handle, two plates 9 inches in diameter, two cups 
with handles attached only at top so they nest, two 
each of knives, forks and spoons and a large mixing 
spoon. You will use your belt knife for the heavy 
cutting, or a small-sized butcher knife in a leather 
sheath can be carried. All these utensils will nest 
and carry in a very small pack and the weight of the 
outfit with a waterproof canvas covering case is 
slightly under six pounds. If your cooking skill in- 
cludes the great American biscuit, an aluminum re- 
flecting baker, about i6-by-i8 and which folds into 
a flat little pack will be found a great menu changer 



i62 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

as pies and bread can easily be baked with it. It 
should have a waterproof canvas case and the weight 
runs about four pounds. It is a matter of personal 
choice whether the cooking be done over the camp- 
fire alone or with the aid of fire irons or broilers. 
The CoUis folding grate-broiler is a handy affair, as 
the whole meal can be prepared at one time with a 
small fire. 

A man's-sized ax 

A mighty important feature of the kit is the ax 
and two can well fit in the outfit. Make one of them 
a three-quarter size with a handle at least 28 inches 
long, the other can be the smaller belt style for 
lighter work. But the longer handled fellow is a 
real necessity as anyone will soon learn who goes into 
the woods with only the small tool. Chopping at 
its best is a helova job and with the small pocket 
ax, to produce enough wood for the evening camp- 
fire is some blistering. The axes should have 
leather sheaths for safety in packing. 

As to the camp light besides the flickering glow 
of the campfire you can get along very well with a 
small-sized carbide lamp or what is really better in 
this line is the carbide lantern. One two-bit can of 
carbide lantern, on a two weeks' trip will give you 
plenty of light for a bit of evening fishing, although 
the Stonebridge army lantern that folds into a com- 
pact flat space and burns candles is a fine illuminator 



CAMP KIT FOR CANOE TRIP 163 

and it never gets out of order. A dozen candles in 
a tin box will carry you through the trip and the box 
keeps them from breaking. 

Take along a file and whetstone to keep the axes 
in shape and a ball of strong twine, a handful of 
nails, and a few feet of copper wire as well as a 
50-foot length of good stout clothesline, which will 
come in right handy in line-running the canoe down 
a bit of swift water you may not feel quite like run- 
ning. And don't forget your canoe repair kit which 
is put up In such shape that you have everything 
needed to keep her floating after a little rough work. 
A standard repair outfit will contain everything 
without any of the useless things a fellow might pick 
up. Take nothing along you'll toss away later. 



PERSONAL KIT FOR WATER 
TRAILS 

The matter of personal kit and equipment is a 
sort of touchy proposition. Every fellow who has 
made his trip into the woods by land or water trails 
has doped up an outfit that he thinks is the best bet 
and he sticks to it until by experience he finds an ar- 
ticle here and there that can be eliminated for some- 
thing else that does the trick just a bit better than 
the last year's favorite wrinkle. However, the first 
time over the route a little advance dope, old-timer, 
will save the toting of a lot of unnecessary stuff, 
which means less hard work on portage or hike. 

Richard Harding Davis once passed this out on 
the subject: "The same article that one declares is 
the most essential to his comfort, health and happi- 
ness is the very first thing that another will throw 
into the trail. A man's outfit is a matter which 
seems to touch his private honor. You may attack 
a man's courage, the flag he serves, the newspaper 
for which he works, his intelligence or his camp 
manners, and he will ignore you ; but if you criticize 
his patent waterbottle he will fall upon you with 

both fists." 

164 



Since the advent of the wooden artificial, usually called a plug 
by the bait caster, thousands of fellows have slipped into the bait 
casting- game a"d sipped deep of the nectar of the outdoors, for which 
[ say, Bless the I'Uig, regafdless of what some of the angling gentry 
say about it.- ■:• 

Illustration No. 1 is the Pflueger AU-In-^One Minnow; No. 2 the 
Pflueger-Surprise Minnow; No. 3 the Heddons Crab VViggler; No. 4 
the South Bend Bass-Oreno Minnow; No. 5 the Fluted Wilson Wob- 
bler; No. 6 the Creek Chub Wiggler; No. 7 the Wilson Six-In-One 
Minnow; No. 8 the McCormic Mermaid Minnow. Every one of these 
plugs are excellent lures for bass and I have had good success with 
them for musky, pike and pickerel. They all have a little old wiggle, 
wobble of their own and they certainly interest the game fish. 



auifj 



PERSONAL KIT FOR WATER TRAILS 165 

THE DUFFLE BAG 

For the canoe trip on stream or chain of lakes 
you should have a duffle bag of waterproof canvas 
and the most convenient size is one 36 inches deep 
with a diameter of 12 inches. This will hold all 
your personal kit, clothing and odds and ends, and 
it stacks up right for the carry on the portage. For 
convenience in carrying, the bag should have a 
handle on the side and one end and if you want 
to ship it as baggage have it rigged up with a chain 
and padlock. With everything in the duffle bag it is 
very easy to pack the canoe and to make camp in the 
evening and should you take a spill in fast water it 
will float around until salvaged and everything will 
be safe and dry. 

For the usual two weeks' trip, one extra suit of 
woolen underwear besides the one worn is sufficient, 
and it should be woolen because this material takes 
up the perspiration and moisture and prevents colds, 
as you will not dry out quickly when overheated, 
after a husky bit of portaging, if you wear woolen 
garments next to the covering old Mother Nature 
gave you. Wool is cool in the summer and warm 
in the chill of evening. Four pair of rough knit 
woolen SOX will keep the feet in fine shape. 

For midsummer ordinary khaki trousers make 
about the best bet for the canoe trip, while if the 
trip be made in the fall when it cools up a bit, espe- 



i66 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

cially in the afternoon and evening, the olive drab 
wool will be better. The regular loose-shaped trou- 
sers are O. K., but the style worn by the infantry 
which lace in front below the knee are mighty handy, 
and with the socks pulled up over the bottoms makes 
a very serviceable piece of duds. 

STAG SHIRT GREAT STUFF 

The shirt should be a light-weight woolen or flan- 
nel and the regulation army shirt with the two 
pockets is the real stuff. You can the pipe and to- 
bacco or the " makin's " and a lot of the little stuff 
that is used often, in these pockets and the buttoned- 
down flap keeps 'em there. For a coat on the trip 
I am not very strong, far better than a coat is a 
stag or cruiser shirt. This is a sure-enough woods- 
man's favorite, and you slip it on over your regular 
shirt and let the tail hang outside, although the tail 
is very short, riding on the hips. The lumber-jacks 
of the North woods invented this short outside shirt 
by merely cutting the long tails off with a jack-knife, 
or stagging it. To stag anything to a lumberman 
is to cut it off short. The shirt made such a hit and 
the demand grew so strong that it was soon put on 
the market. It's a winner for the outdoors, and is 
wind-proof and warm. A sweater should be car- 
ried along for camp use, altogether the stag shirt 
can be used in the place of either the coat or sweater. 
A good combination is a vest and sweater, the vest 



PERSONAL KIT FOR WATER TRAILS 167 

for general wear and the sweater for the camp or 
cool of the evening. The vest simply worn over 
the shirt is the handiest thing in the clothing line, it 
is never in the way, and the pockets are very useful 
for carrying a little bit of everything. It does not 
interfere with paddling nor is it a hindrance to cast- 
ing, and every way from the Jack it is right for the 
woods. Any old vests will do, one of those hanging 
in the clothes-closet, for which the rest of the suit has 
gone by the board. In the woods or on the trail 
the sweater is unhandy for the reason that it snags 
on most every limb or brush that you pass, but for 
the camp it is right and comfy. 

WHAT THE FEET NEED 

For the feet there is nothing better in the canoe 
than a pair of light moccasins or low leather or can- 
vas wading shoes. The canvas shoes with rub- 
ber soles are not as desirable as the leather, 
as the continuous wear of the rubber soles is tiring to 
the feet. For the portaging and trail a pair of army 
shoes of the Munson last are very good as well as 
larrigans or shoe-packs. Larrigans have a top of 
from eight to twelve inches high and the seams are 
on top of the shoe where the least strain comes and 
the sole is flexible, giving a sort of grip to the toes 
when walking under the load of a carry. For the 
trail a pair of canvas leggings can be used with the 
army shoe or you can pull the sox over the outside 



i68 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

of the trousers and have a fairly serviceable legging 
at that. Any old soft slouch hat will cover the hat 
question, the more comfortable the better, but if 
you want to look sort of nobby, get a three-inch brim 
Stetson on the order of the military styles, which will 
be very popular from now on, and you might as well 
get used to wearing them now as later. 

Always wear a belt in the woods, no matter 
whether you wear suspenders or not, and on your 
belt you should carry a short hunting-knife, which 
will answer for your cooking, table and general 
handy-man use. In your pockets you should also 
carry a man's-size jack-knife, a waterproof match, 
box, and a compass, while a fishing line and a couple 
of hooks stuck away in a pocket may mean a meal 
if you ever get a bit off your bearings and cannot 
get back to camp for a day or so. 



INSIDE THE GRUB SACK 

The part of the pack of the canoe trip that makes 
the beginner at this alluring sport wear the point 
off the pencil and spoil countless sheets of perfectly 
good paper is the grub to tote along. As a general 
thing, on the first time out he will carry a layout con- 
taining a bunch of stuff that takes up a lot of room 
in the pack, adds a big, stiff extra to the weight, and 
at that does not produce the necessary protein, fats 
and carbohydrates to keep the human engine going; 
in other words that don't sound so highbrow, the 
heat and energy to keep a fellow fit for his turn at 
the paddle and the portage as well as satisfying the 
wonderful, husky appetite he develops after the first 
day out. 

To set an iron rule of what to carry in the grub 
line, with all the varying likes and. dislikes, is a little 
old job that cannot be handled by one person. 
Many guides in the North woods will not provision 
the party they are to guide, for the simple reason 
that they cannot guess what the other fellow likes, 
so they sit in with the party and get his ideas before 
taking a hand at the stocking of the grub sack. 

169 



I70 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

don't carry water 

To pack right is to eliminate the foods that con- 
tain a great amounrof water in their make-up. It is 
unnecessary to tote along a lot of things that contain 
the greater part of water, especially when you have 
so much water along the route. Fresh milk, fruit 
and vegetables, as well as canned soups, tomatoes 
and peaches, contain over 75 per cent water, while 
fresh beef, mutton, poultry, eggs, potatoes, canned 
corn and beans contain over half water. A few of 
the things that contain less than one-fifth water are 
bacon, butter, salt pork, powdered or desiccated 
eggs, powdered milk, flour, cornmeal, rice, dried 
beans, hominy, dehydro vegetables, sugar, nuts, 
dates, figs and raisins. 

Looking over the past performance sheets for a 
number of trips last season, I find the list herewith 
tallies out for two pals on a two weeks' trip. The 
dope is taken from three trips made on streams 
along which few settlers were passed and no oppor- 
tunities were had to buy vegetables or meats en 
route. This list, however, was varied and helped by 
fish and small game and at the end of the trip an 
average of ten pounds of provisions was on hand. 
However, it is always better to go a bit over than 
short, as the appetite is a corker the second week. 
Then again, the fishing may not come up to expecta- 
tions, and the game be scarce, which would mean 



INSIDE THE GRUB SACK 171 

that the left-over ten pounds would come in mighty 
handy. 

THE GRUB LIST 

The main thing in the woods is bacon; it carries 
the blue ribbon at its masthead and deserves it. We 
start the list with bacon in strips, eight pounds; 
small ham or butt, five pounds; salt pork, two 
pounds; butter, four pounds; lard, one pound; egg 
powder, or desiccated eggs, one pound, equaling 
four dozen fresh eggs; milk powder, three pounds, 
equal to three gallons of milk; white flour, 12 
pounds; cornmeal, one pound; prepared pancake 
flour, two pounds; rolled oats, one pound; rice, one 
pound; dehydro potatoes, riced, two pounds, equal- 
ing fourteen pounds of fresh potatoes, and one 
pound sliced, equaling seven pounds of fresh; dehy- 
dro carrots, one-fourth pound, equaling three pounds 
fresh; dehydro onions, one-fourth pound, equaling 
four pounds fresh; dehydro cranberries, one-fourth 
pound, equaling 2^ quarts fresh fruit; dehydro 
raspberries, one-half pound, equaling five quarts 
fresh fruit; dried beans, four pounds; prunes, one 
pound; dried peaches, one pound; raisins, one 
pound; sugar, six pounds; coffee, two pounds; tea, 
one-half pound; cocoa, one-half pound; salt, one 
pound; pepper, one ounce; baking powder, one-half 
pound; lemons, one-half dozen; mixed nut kernels, 
one pound. 



172 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

The above list runs about 64 pounds, or an aver- 
age of 16 pounds a week, or about 2 1-3 pounds per 
day, for each fellow, and when you add to this 
amount the fish and small game, your average will 
run about three pounds, which is all the boys from 
the walled-up cities builded by man can assimilate 
when flirting with Old Lady Outdoors. The army 
garrison ration allowance is four pounds two ounces 
per day, but the mess is given the privilege of vary- 
ing the amount of staples by substituting luxuries in 
which it is deficient, thus cutting down the weight 
of the menu and giving it more variety. 

ADD A FEW CONDIMENTS 

To the general list a fellow usually has some one 
favorite in the grub line that tickles his particular 
palate, and this article should be Included in the grub 
list. Condiments vary the taste of the ordinary 
foods and give a bit of spice to the sauces and gravy. 
A bottle of Heinz Ketchup and of India Relish 
should be included, as well as a jar of mustard, the 
latter being a good medicine for the woods as well 
as a seasoner. These additions do not add greatly 
to the weight of the pack, but they give it a variety 
of taste that will be appreciated, especially about 
the middle of the second week, when the diet begins 
to assume a sameness. 

The pack can be lightened a bit and the amount 
of space reduced a little by substituting prepared 



INSIDE THE GRUB SACK 173 

coffee and tabloid tea for the regular kind. It is 
just as good as the latter, and takes but a minute or 
so to prepare. In fact, for the quick, hot drink and 
for carrying on the hike, these two prepared articles 
are hard to beat. 

The food should all be packed in small individual 
waterproof sacks, and these sacks then placed in a 
duffle bag, so that the commissary is all together. 
The meats should be wrapped in parchment paper, 
which is grease proof, and then placed in a cheese- 
cloth bag to keep the flies out, before placing in the 
waterproof sack; in this way it will keep quite a 
while. The butter, lard, tea, coffee, etc., can go in 
the pry-up tins while the salt should be carried in a 
wooden box, as it draws moisture. 



ON HANDLING THE CANOE 

The canoe is a great little craft and for its weight 
the makers have turned out a wonderfully strong and 
sturdy affair; naturally, however, it has its weak 
points, but these weak points need never be subjected 
to the test if the canoe is correctly handled. A 65- 
pound canoe will safely carry almost half a ton, but 
in doing so, with safety to the canoe, the weight 
should be distributed over the length of 16 feet and 
the width of three feet and never shot into one end 
or place. In loading the canoe be sure of one thing, 
old-timer, and that is that it is floating freely and 
has space to settle with the added load without 
grounding. Place the heavier packs in the middle 
and as flat as possible in the bottom so that when 
fully loaded the canoe will lie on an even keel. Any- 
thing sticking up above the gunwales simply means 
that much more surface for the wind to strike which 
makes the canoe top-heavy. 

Before starting down stream lash everything fast, 
particularly so for running fast water or rapids. 
This can be easily done by tying a rope to the for- 
ward thwart and then threading it through the 
handles of the dufile bags or the straps of the packs 
and on to the rear thwarts. If you hit a submerged 

174 ' 



ON HANDLING THE CANOE 175 

rock in the white water and go overboard you will 
find all your kit safely attached to the canoe and 
waterproof. If the packs are loosely arranged in 
the canoe, however, you'll probably spend a day try- 
ing to locate them down stream and some of the kit 
you never will find. It's an easy " safety first " in 
the game and should not be overlooked. 

LOADING THE OUTFIT 

The canoe should always be brought up to shore 
broadside on and never bow first and it is better 
dope to step out into the water rather than run up 
on a rocker gravel bottom. And the canoe should 
never be hauled up on the shore and then unloaded 
nor should it be loaded on shore and then pulled 
into the water. In boarding a canoe let the weight 
down as lightly as possible and be sure there are no 
snags or rocks under the canoe upon which your ad- 
ditional weight will crush the bottom. 

If part of the equipment is carried in duffle bags 
and the balance in packs, the portage should be 
made with one man carrying the duffle bags while 
the other fellow totes the smallest pack and the 
canoe, or iT the entire kit is carried in pack sacks 
each can take his share of the packs and the canoe 
can be carried by the two men, although the man in 
front will have the most weight of the canoe and his 
pack should be the lightest. When two men carry 
the canoe it should be carried bottom side up. The 



176 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

man at the stern lowers the canoe until the gun- 
wales rest on his shoulders while the man in front 
allows the front thwart to rest on the back of his 
neck and shoulders. In this manner both can see 
the trail and the portage is easy. 

For portaging the canoe by the one-man power 
the two paddles must be secured to the thwarts. A 
piece of rawhide or strong twine should be attached 
to the thwarts and adjusted so that the paddles can 
be slipped in and out with ease and still be securely 
held when needed. The blades of the paddles rest 
on the forward thwart with the handles on the rear 
one and the blades should be far enough apart so 
that they rest on the shoulders without cramping the 
tendons of the neck. The front thwart rests on the 
neck and the head extends up between the ends of 
the paddles. To ease up the weight a bit you will 
find that a woollen shirt or sweater padded on the 
shoulders will take a bit of the curse off of the job. 

PACKS AND DUFFLE BAGS 

For two fellows two weeks in the woods the en- 
tire outfit can be carried in two large pack sacks while 
for the same trip if duffle bags are used, four will 
be required. The pack sacks of course come with 
the shoulder straps and the kind best suited for the 
game also have a head strap. In packing the duffle 
bags, the tump 'line or head strap is generally used, 
two or three of the duffle bags being bunched and 



ON HANDLING THE CANOE 177 

the tump line attached. This carry is entirely 
made with the head and unless a fellow is expe- 
rienced in handling the tump line he had better take 
along a pack harness which is an arrangement of 
shoulder straps into which the duffle bags are tied 
and the whole thing swung on the back. One pack 
sack at least should be carried and the fellow who 
totes the canoe should carry the pack sack as it is 
easier to handle the canoe with the pack sack than 
any other way. It is out of the question to carry the 
canoe and a tump line pack. 

RUNNING FAST WATER 

In running rapids of fast water the stern man has 
control of the canoe and the bow man should keep 
out of the stearing game and not try to ward the 
bow off rocks, unless it is certain that the stern man 
has lost control. As a general thing, back paddle 
a bit so that the current runs swifter than the canoe. 
Keep out of the main current if you can find an 
easier passage and always give the rapids the once 
over from the shore before you ride them. Follow 
the passage the clearest of rocks and in passing one 
of these innocent looking affairs, the current will 
usually carry the bow to one side and clear the rock, 
then it is up to the stern man to back the stern clear. 
If you find a well-worn trail above a bit of rough 
water you can figure that many a good fellow at the 
paddle has portaged and it will probably save you 



178 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

time and wetting to follow the dope of the gang 
that have gone before. 

In ordinary open water on the lakes the bow 
should ride about three inches higher than the stern. 
An awful lot of drag is put on the canoe if the 
larger part of the load is in the stern, however, in 
running down a swift stream or running with the 
wind a canoe should ride on an even keel, while 
running into a stiff wind the bow should be lightened 
and ride up a bit. Distribute the load evenly and 
low as a low load adds to the stability of the canoe. 

Keeping a cool head and acting quickly is the 
whole thing in the canoe game and the standing up 
stuff and general horseplay is nix in the parlance of 
the craft. It's a great little pleasure producer and 
more downright joy can be frisked out of a two 
weeks river trip via the canoe and portage than any 
other end of the fishing game. 



THE ONES THAT GET AWAY 

" Yes, sah, old-timer, he was shore a big one; jes' 
about that long and so thick, an' when he kicked up 
a ruckus along side o' this yere ol' scow I sutainly 
knowed he war a reg'lar gran'-daddy uh the bass 
family — yeah, jes' about so long and so thick, but 
he got away, an — " 

That's the way many a fish story runs, old scout. 
He was a big one, but he got away, did a fadeaway, 
slipped the hooks, and it's a ten-to-one shot that the 
fisherman cussed his luck at not handling the fish 
right, or passed the blame to the tackle for not being 
as strong as it should have been. And way down 
deep in the matter, if the fisherman would dope it 
out, he would probably find that he had overlooked 
some little detail in rigging his outfit, and these little 
details overlooked and forgotten have been the real 
cause of losing a sure enough bunch of '* he-whops " 
of the finny tribe. 

So far this season I " sat-in " at the loss of three 
very large fish. These fish were hooked by expe- 
rienced anglers who have fished many waters, and 
each of these game fins were lost, not through any 
lack of skill in handhng light tackle, but through 
carelessness. 

179 



i8o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

LOST HIM IN NETTING 

The first of this trio of' big ones to slip the 
" good-by " signal to my fishing pardner was a wall- 
eye pike, and he was some wall-eye. I have landed 
a member of the ancient order of wall-eyes up to 
twelve and a half pounds, and my pard has one of 
twelve and three quarters to his credit, but the one 
he hooked on this trip would have pegged down the 
scales at fifteen pounds — and he lost him. He had 
worked the old cuss up to the boat and the fish lay 
in the water a good yard long or better, sure a prize 
wall-eye, when the pardner tried to head him into a 
small-sized folding trout net. The big fin's head 
just about made the net, when he got a leverage on 
the sides, threw the hook with a shake and disap- 
peared. Can you beat it, trying to daintily land a 
fifteen-pound wall-eye in a kid's sized landing net? 
Up at the cabin there were five larger nets hanging 
on the wall, but the pardner picked up the one near- 
est to him and lost a prize fish. 

If you are fishing in lake waters where you are 
likely to connect up with a really large fish, although 
you may be specializing on bass at the time, the 
landing net with the long handle and a large hoop 
is the real stuff. And have plenty of net on the 
hoop so that you can let 'em drop into the net and 
not hang out over the sides. Or take along a gaff 
and have that lying in a handy place for the large 



THE ONES THAT GET AWAY i8i 

fish, and if you do gaff them, don't take a chance 
on running the gaff through the body of the fish, 
but slip it under his gills when they open up a bit 
as he lies in the water. The gaff often slips off the 
scaly sides when used through the body. 

IMPORTANCE OF THE LEADER 

The second of the fadeaway trio was a pike and 
he struck the lure as though he needed the feed. 
The pardner played him a bit and slowly worked him 
up to the boat. We had just glimmed his size and 
doped him out at about eighteen pounds when he 
snapped the line without much effort and kicked 
back into his home waters. It happened that I had 
loaned the pard a line that day and he sat there and 
cussed my lines from the ace to the joker. He made 
me feel like a regular movie villain, conspiring to 
make him lose the big fish by giving him a weak 
old line, while in fact I had reeled on a new fifteen- 
pound test line not more than an hour before the 
accident. I couldn't dope out the ease with which 
the pike snapped the line until I watched the 
pardner put on another lure and noted that he was 
tying the lure directly onto the line and not using 
a wire leader. That may go for bass, old-timer, 
but not for your Uncle Dixie. I slip on a leader 
every time, because I take no chances with the pike 
or musky that may accidentally take a swipe at my 
lure. If you have ever lamped the sharp dagger- 



i82 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

edged teeth of these old ruffians and the great 
mouthful that they have, you can readily see that 
it is no job at all for one of them to saw a line with 
a cross-swipe of these teeth. Don't overlook the 
wire leader, old scout, when you are rigging up the 
casting outfit. It will probably mean the big one 
is yours when he makes the dash at your plug. 

RUSHING THE FISH TO NET 

The last of the outfit was a pike of possibly fifteen 
pounds, and he was lost through two reasons. The 
pardner who had him hooked had a nervous streak 
and tried to haul him up to the gaff too speedily, 
probably got a bit of " buck fever " and was afraid 
of losing him, and he had also failed to break off 
the worn part of his line before snapping on his lure. 
When you hook a fish and he wants to take a run 
of line, give it to him, let him go for a swim, but 
keep the thumb on the spool of the reel and make 
him take It. That's part of the sport of fishing, 
and more fish are lost by trying to drag 'em in in a 
hurry than through any other way. Play the game 
fine; give him line and take it away from him; keep 
the slack out of the line and always have a bend to 
the rod. It is the spring of the rod that eventually 
tires out the fish; the constant pull of the rod makes 
them come, white side up. And as a safety first, 
old man, be sure and tear off a few feet of worn 
line from the casting end each day. That is the 



THE ONES THAT GET AWAY 183 

part that becomes badly worn by the friction on the 
guides and tip by the pull of the lure as it first starts 
through the air on the cast. 

Incidentally, I lost a fine bass myself on this trip. 
He hit the pull to about four and a half to five 
pounds and with about fifty feet of line out slipped 
me the good-by stuff. I lost him because I failed 
to keep my mind on the game. I was alone in the 
canoe and had set the hooks well, when I turned 
around and called to a pardner, casting a nearby 
weed-bed, too watch my tame bass break water. 
Just about that time he did break on a bit of slack 
and I was in no position, in a cranky canoe, to take 
it away from him. He made a beautiful shake of 
his entire body, waved a fond farewell and my pard 
had me for the smokes. You simply gotta keep 
your mind on the game to land 'em. 



THE MUD MINNOW, HERE'S TO 'IM 

Of all the minnow family who have ever kicked 
their way into the fancy of the game fish and also 
kicked their way to safety, the mud minnow stands 
out like the fourth ace in a two-card draw, as the 
hardiest, liveliest wiggling minnow in the entire deck 
of something like One hundred and thirty different 
species. 

And take it from me, old-timer, the mud minnow 
is as attractive a lure to the dyspeptic " he-whop " 
bass, most any time in the season, as any of the 
natural baits that tickle his palate. And you don't 
have to be finicky about handling him in order to get 
him to the fishing grounds without passing in his 
checks. This little old wiggling delight of the bass, 
wall-eye pike, and even the musky can stand more 
rough handling and less attention than the rest of 
the minnow outfit, and still be lively enough when 
you want to use him, to make it an interesting job 
to hook him up for bait. 

You don't have to aerate the water every half 
an hour to keep him alive, nor is it necessary to 
liven him up with a salt bath during the day. You 
can crowd them into a small bucket so thick that you 
can scarcely see the water, with hardly room enough 

184 



THE MUD MINNOW, HERE'S TO 'IM 185 

to kick his tail without getting into a fight with the 
minnows near him and he's Hvely and ready for the 
game when you get to the fishing waters the next 
day. 

SEND 'em by express 

During the past season I have shipped them by 
express to pals in the North woods country, send- 
ing five dozen in a half-gallon bucket, and they have 
gone through the trip without one ending the jour- 
ney, white side up. 

For this hardy nature we sure gotta thank the 
husky little cuss of darkish brown with a bit of gold 
and a yellowish-tinted tummy which makes him good 
to look upon as bass feed. As a bass bait he is a 
hundred times winner and every second he is in the 
water he is working his head off to attract a game 
fin to your hook. I know of mud minnows that 
have landed five small-mouth bass and still had a 
lively kick in their tails at that. 

As an example of what some of these little fellows 
can stand and still kick around, here is the history 
of one of them that reads like a five-reel thriller. 
A few weeks ago, I shipped five dozen to a fishing 
friend in a city a bit over two hundred miles away. 
They left by express at 2 p. m. and arrived at their 
destination about eleven the next morning, which 
was Saturday, the day they were to do their darndest 
to entice the wily bass. 



i86 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

SOME HUSKY, THIS MINNOW 

Before starting to the fishing waters, my friend, 
who Is an engineer, changed the water in the blue- 
print room, thinking they needed a Httle fresh water 
to give 'em pep. The following Tuesday I received 
this Interesting bit of Information from the engineer : 
" Must tell you a funny thing about those mud min- 
nows. When they arrived Saturday, I took them 
Into the blue-printing room and put them under the 
faucet In the blue-print tank. Somehow one of them 
got out, but we did not discover it. Monday morn- 
ing the chap In that department decided to clean out 
the tank, so he let all the water out. He discovered 
something kicking over in one corner and found it 
was one of those minnows. It had been living in 
that rotten water, full of peroxide and acids all that 
time. He left it lay on the bottom until he had 
cleaned the tank and then turned in the fresh water. 
It Is still alive and about as lively as anything you 
ever saw. We are going to see how long it will 
live there." 

Which Is sure going some for any kind of a fish, 
to stick it out In a tank of peroxide and acids and 
still be lively and on the job some forty hours later. 
Probably if this minnow had hair instead of scales 
It would have been a decided blond at least, after 
the peroxide bath. If you want to be sure of having 
bait, that is good live bait when you get to the fishing 



THE MUD MINNOW, HERE'S TO 'IM 187 

waters, just take along a bunch of these Httle rascals 
and the live-bait question is a settled thing. 

OTHER MINNOWS AS BAIT 

Of course, there are other members of the minnow 
family that are lively, sturdy little fellows, but they 
are not as husky as the mud minnow. The river or 
creek chub is a tough minnow with a mouth that is 
strong and holds the hook well. They are livelier 
than the rest of the minnows and when taken from 
the swifter, cooler waters they are more vigorous 
than those from the warmer streams; at the same 
time they have a brighter, silvery shine which makes 
an attractive lure for the bass and wall-eye. On 
bright and clear days when the water is still and 
" fine," the chub is second only to the mud minnow 
as a popular bait. 

The silver shiner or dace is another minnow that 
makes the bass happy, and its silver sides send out 
a shining lure that is hard to resist. It is par- 
ticularly good in rough water or on cloudy and dark 
days, but it is a tender cuss and don't stand for any 
rough handling. A good way to get them is with a 
short line and a small hook, but you must handle 
them gently and raise 'em like a pet or they kick in 
before you can use them for a bait. 

For musky, pike or pickerel, the larger-sized min- 
nows make the best bait and it's about even money 
between the black sucker, silver shiner, river or creek 



i88 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

chub, and the fallfish with the odds in favor of the 
sucker. The minnows from 6 to lo inches, are 
about right for the musky, pike and pickerel, while 
the 4 and 5 inches make a fine size for the wall-eye 
pike and bass. A minnow of this growth is livelier 
and will stand the gaff better than a smaller one. 
As a natural thing the bass like a good mouthful, 
and you seldom get a minnow that they cannot 
handle. 



WHAT HO! THE PIKE FAMILY 

Old-timer, the greatest little jinx that bobs up in 
the fishing game to cause an argument and an endless 
amount of discussion both ways from the Jack, is 
the question as to the correct identification of the 
pike outfit; the muskallunge, pike and pickerel. 
Which is which, and why, makes the life of a fishing 
editor one glorious nightmare. The fellow who 
has landed a walloping fighting pike is darned sure 
that it was a musky, while his friend puts the skids 
under him by calling it a pickerel, and from that time 
on they don't even speak when they pass a coaling 
station. If it hadn't been for the pike, pickerel, 
musky chewing fest, these former pals would likely 
be hanging over the rail planning their next fishing 
trip. 

The entire pike family are a savage bunch of 
rustlers and they all make a fight to stay in the wet. 
Of course the musky kicks up more " hullabaloo " 
than the pike and pickerel, but at that there is a bit 
of a fight in the pike and pickerel. Of course there 
are a lot of highbrow anglers who snort with con- 
tempt, in fact they fairly bristle with snorts when a 
feller even mentions pike and pickerel within the 
glow of their halo, but you can plaster this up in your 
think-tank for keeps, these self same chaps don't 

189 



I90 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

land everyone they hook. Many a well-developed 
pike has thrown a farewell kiss to the fisherman and 
at the same time carried away his spoon as a sou- 
venir. 

WHAT THE DOCTOR SAYS 

That the boys of the trusty rod may have a sure 
enough scientific opinion on the true records of the 
pike family to which the musky, pike and pickerel 
belong, I give you here a copy of a letter written 
by Dr. Barton Warren Everman, one of the best 
known piscatorial scientists and who collaborated 
with David Starr Jordan in the writing of " Ameri- 
can Food and Game Fishes." 

" In the first place, let me say, all the species 
under consideration belong to one and the same 
genus, namely Esox (or Lucius, of some authors) . 

" There are at present recognized in American 
seven species of this genus. They are : The banded 
pickerel (Esox americanus), the little pickerel or 
grass pike (Esox vermiculatus) , the common eastern 
pickerel, green pike, or jack (Esox reticulatus), the 
common pike. Great Lakes pike, or pickerel (Esox 
lucius), the muskallunge (Esox masquinongy), the 
Chautauqua or Ohio muskallunge (Esox ohiensis), 
and the great northern pike or unspotted muskal- 
lunge (Esox immaculatus) . 

" These various species may be readily differen- 
tiated by means of the following ' key ' : 



WHAT HO! THE PIKE FAMILY 191 

*' (a) Cheek entirely scaled ; (b) Opercles (gill- 
covers) entirely scaled; (c) Branchiostegals (the 
bony rays under or behind the lower jaw, supporting 
the thin membrane), usually 12, (11 to 13); (d) 
Color dark greenish, about 20 distinct curved black- 
ish bars on side — Banded Pickerel. 

"(dd) Color light greenish, side with many nar- 
row curved streaks of darker, these usually distinct, 
irregular, and much reticulated — Grass Pike. 

"(cc) Branchiostegals 14 to 16 — Green Pike. 

"(bb) Opercles without scales — Common Pike. 

" (aa) Cheeks as well as opercles with lower 
half-naked; branchiostegals 17 to 19. 

"(d) Sides grayish, with round or squarish black 
spots, not coalescing to form bands — Muskallunge. 

*'(dd) Sides brassy, with narrow dark cross 
shades whfch break up into vaguely outlined dark 
spots — Ohio Muskallunge. 

"(ddd) Sides grayish, unspotted or with very 
vague dark cross shades — Unspotted Muskallunge. 

" The Banded Pickerel is found only east of the 
Alleghenies, from Massachusetts to Florida. It is 
a small fish, rarely exceeding a foot in length. 

" The Grass Pike occurs abundantly thoughout 
the upper and middle Mississippi valley and in 
streams tributary to Lake Erie and Lake Michigan. 
It does not occur east of the Alleghenies. It r?-.r<r'-' 
exceeds a foot in length. 

" The Common Eastern Pickerel is found from 



192 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Maine to Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas and Tennes- 
see. It is a common angler's fish in New England 
where it attains a weight of several pounds. 

" The Common Pike is widely distributed all over 
Northern America, Europe and Asia. It reaches 
a weight of 40 pounds or even more, and is often 
mistaken for a Muskallunge. 

" The Muskallunge inhabits the Great Lakes, the 
upper St. Lawrence, some streams tributary to the 
Great Lakes and some in the upper Mississippi Val- 
ley. This is the largest fish of the family. It at- 
tains a length of 8 feet or more and a great weight. 

" The Ohio Muskallunge is found In Lake Chau- 
tauqua and certain streams in Ohio Including the 
Ohio. It Is now rare except in Chautauqua Lake, 
where it is propagated by the State of New York. 
It attains a great size. 

" The Unspotted or Plain Muskallunge is known 
only from Eagle Lake and certain other small lakes 
In northern Wisconsin and Minnesota. Not much 
Is known about it. It may not be a good species. 

" The Eastern Pickerel or Chain Pickerel is not 
found In the Middle West; the species there Is the 
Little Pickerel or Grass Pike. 

" The chief reason for all the confusion is the 
loose use of the term ' pickerel.' Some mean one 
species by that term, while others mean another. 

" Color in fishes is not always a reliable character; 
it is thus In these fishes. The safest course Is to 



WHAT HO! THE PIKE FAMILY 193 

depend on the scaling of the cheeks and opercles. 

" In both Esox reticulatus and Esox vermiculatus 
both the cheek and opercle are entirely scaled, but in 
the former there are 14 to 16 branchiostegals while 
in Esox vermiculatus there are only 11 to 13. 

" In Esox lucius the cheek is entirely scaled but the 
lower half of the opercle is naked. This will always 
distinguish Esox lucius (Common Pike; Pickerel) 
from Esox vermiculatus (Grass Pike or Little Pick- 
erel) found in the same waters. And the Muskal- 
lunges can always be distinguished from the Pick- 
erels in that both the cheek and opercle are naked 
on their lower half." 

Which only goes to show you, old-timer, that the 
Pike outfit, have a family tree and the branches are 
distinct and easily recognized. 



AMONG THE JUMPERS 

There are many angles to the fishing game that 
stand the nerves on edge and shoot the thrills 
through the system. Some of the gang crediting 
the strike with being the real thrill producer while 
others place their small change on the jump up out 
of the water as the ultimate in climaxes. On the 
jumper, I'll stack a bit of change — what has more 
kick to it, than the sudden, unexpected leap into the 
air by the game fin? The flash of the glistening 
rascal, his shake of the body and the drop back into 
the water. You are thrilled for the moment won- 
dering if you still have him or whether he has 
started for other waters. 

The leap into the ether of the small-mouth bass is 
one of his stock tricks and at that little move he is 
a pastmaster. Up clear of the water with a grace- 
ful curve to his body and then a shake of the entire 
body to throw the stinging hook or to spit out the 
tickling feathery fly. This shake has often been 
termed a shake of the head but in fact as the bass 
has no neck it is in reality a shake of the entire body 
and it is surprising the rattling good shake they can 
produce at that. Let the small-mouth catch you 

194 



illustration Ko. 1 is the Ptlueger Golden West Hj' reel, an aristo- 
crat among reels of this kind and one that is equally as fine a running 
tool as it is good looking. This reel, of course, is a single action or 
click reel, and it is a pleasure to use it on a well balanced fly rod. 

Illustration No. 2 is an automatic reel, the popular "Y & E" reel 
that takes care of the slack in the line by merely applying slight 
pressure of the little finger. For handling big trout and bass via 
the fly rod it is sure a great worker. 

Illustration No. 3 is a very popular reel, the Meisselbach "Feather- 
weight" a light single action fly reel that works fine and balances 
well with most any rod. 

Illustration No. 4 is a nifty aluminum takapart fly reel that is an 
excellent tool and one that looks the part as well as acts like a 
thoroughbred. This reel, the famous Meisselbach "Rainbow." is ex- 
cellent in every way. 






•s 






AMONG THE JUMPERS 195 

with just the semblance of slack in the line and up 
he comes and if you are slow in taking away the 
slack, just dope it up as a good-by bass. And if you 
try to pull him off his legs, he stands about as good 
a chance to make a getaway. As he drops back 
on the water have just enough slack in the line so 
that it will not be taut or have too much pull to it, 
then let the arch of the rod make him take the line 
as he starts on another run. 

HIGH LEAPING RAINBOW 

The leap of the rainbow trout is a thing of beauty, 
way up out of the water with plenty of kick to it and 
he often makes a leap the very first thing on being 
hooked, throwing the fly as he curves in the air. 
There is nothing slow about the leap of the rainbow 
and he makes at times a continuous series of leaps in 
his dashing fight to make a getaway. 

I know of one two-pounder that makes his home 
in the Marquette river in Michigan, that made a 
leap of over eight feet almost the instant he was 
hooked from the fast shallows under an overhang- 
ing bush and then repeated the jump as soon as he 
hit the water again. On the second jump, which 
came rather unexpectedly so soon after the first 
leap, he kept right on going and is probably 
still going. But the thrills from those jumps, old- 
timer, set the blood to tingling and the nerves on 
edge. 



196 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 



MUSKY A STURDY JUMPER 

The heavy-weight among the jumpers is the musky 
and when a big old " villyun " of this tribe decides to 
hit the air he causes a commotion on the surface that 
stirs up things a bit. And what a thrill he gives 
you when he makes the jump and you get a glimpse 
of what a large fish you are really connected with. 
Often at this point as he flashes a threatening glance 
in your direction you wonder whether it is not the 
safest thing to cut the line and start fishing for pan- 
fish. This, however, is merely a flash of musky 
fever and as he makes another plunge with a run of 
line you instantly decide to land that fish or sink the 
boat in the effort. 

After you have witnessed the rough old shake of 
a big musky as he tries to throw your spoon, the 
shake of the small-mouth bass seems like a tremble 
in comparison. The beauty of the leap of the 
musky is that you never know how he will end it. 
He may drop back on the water like a ton of rocks 
and then dash away for a long run or again he may 
swirl around on the line in an effort to corkscrew 
it around his tail and thrash it apart or pull the hook 
loose with the leverage. He has dozens of ways 
to end the jump and the fact that you have to keep 
your eyes on the game for the unexpected is one 
of the thrill producers in this end of the sport. 



AMONG THE JUMPERS 197 

WHAT ABOUT THE PICKEREL? 

Although some of the boys credit the pike or pick- 
erel with the same game jump of the musky and 
bass and the shake of the body in an effort to throw 
the hook, from my own experience with these fish 
and from the experiences of many fishermen and 
guides I cannot class 'em up with the jumpers. It 
may be that in certain waters and localities the pike 
and pickerel do jump up out of the water and shake 
the spoon with a walloping kick with the same game- 
ness of the musky and bass; these pike, however, I 
have never met personally. The usual fight of the 
pike and pickerel is to make long straight runs in an 
effort to snag the line among the weeds and twist 
the hook loose with the leverage thus gained. Usu- 
ally I have never lamped the pike or pickerel until 
he was brought close up to the boat and then he 
generally makes a swirling fight and rush to get 
away, throwing a bit of water in your face in the 
effort. 

JUMP MORE IN SHALLOW WATER 

The depth of water has a lot to do with the leap 
of the game fins, especially so with the musky. In 
nearly every case the musky caught in the shallow 
water, ranging from five to fifteen feet, will break 
water. The tendency of the big fish is to go down, 
to hunt the refuge of the snags and weeds of the 



198 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

bottom and when he finds that going down Is a short 
shift, he turns and makes a leap above the surface. 
One of the largest muskies caught this season, in 
fact, two very large muskies never broke water dur- 
ing fights that lasted in each case over an hour and 
a half. One of these game fins, hooked in about 
twenty feet of water and swiftly worked out to a 
depth of forty to fifty feet, away from his home 
waters off the edge of the weed beds, could not be 
coaxed near the surface until after thirty minutes 
of playing and the other one came up to where he 
could swirl back with a kick that made his tail clear 
the water. 

Had either one of these game fins been played 
in the shallower water no doubt they would have 
hopped around in the air like a couple of kittens. 
The best all round leaper in the musky family is the 
smaller fellow and when you hook up with say a 25- 
pounder and he cannot loosen the hook down below, 
you can expect a fine " top-o'-the-water " fight if you 
keep connected with him long enough to give him a 
chance to show just what he can do in the jumping 
line. 



LUCK AND SKILL 

" Take It from me, old scout, he's a lucky dog; 
just lamp the size of that old fish." You'll hear 
someone chirp those words about every time a fellow 
brings in a good-sized fish or a heavy string, not that 
the speaker is jealous or anything like that, but it 
seems to be the habit to throw all the blame on the 
double horseshoe when a fisherman succeeds in play- 
ing a wild child of nature one trick better than it 
knows itself. 

Of course there is a bit of luck in locating a big 
husky tailkicker and throwing a shot in his direction, 
but landing this old he-whop after the strike is gen- 
erally a matter of skill, or in the case of a rank 
" ametoor " having sense enough to follow the dope 
your guide hands out in the course of the battle 
royal. 

Many big musky have struck the lure of a fisher- 
man on his first try at the big fellows and then tar- 
ried only for a moment and as a matter of fact many 
of the largest have come to gaff at the hands of these 
scouts new at the fishing game. Looking over rec- 
ords of big fish caught during the past three years 
it is surprising to note the great number that have 
been landed by the fellow just breaking into the 

199 



200 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

game. This large number landed by inexpert fish- 
ermen must surely show that a great number have 
also gotten away. 

AMATEURS LAND BIG ONES 

When you read over the dope on the fight of 
these gray-whiskered members of the fin family one 
naturally wonders at the success crowning the efforts 
of the new members of the fishing clan. And when 
a fellow knows that the first instinct of the average 
fisherman and also in a great many cases with the 
expert at the game, is to horse the old roughnecks 
in with a bit of speed, one has a helova time trying 
to dope out the answer. It's a case of usually ar- 
riving at the conclusion that quite a streak of luck 
runs through the game and a toss-up whether to 
carry a horseshoe in the tackle box or rub a black 
cat's back before starting on a fishing trip. 

When a fisherman hooks up with a big fish he can 
generally count on a fight of some length and a scrap 
worth while or one of short duration ending in a 
defiant swish of the tail as the old villyun makes his 
getaway. No matter how strong your line, you 
have to play them in a coaxing manner without try- 
ing to speed up the game or they throw the hook and 
tail off to other waters. When he starts on a run 
give him line, but make him pull a little for it; you 
don't have to give him a free spool, but keep just 
enough pressure of the thumb to make him take it 



LUCK AND SKILL 201 

and to give the rod a bit of an arch so that this 
pulling spring of the rod will help tire the fish. 
Very few rods will stand a direct pull of five or six 
pounds without breaking and to try to stop the run 
of a high volted heavy fish by pumping the rod or 
making a derrick of it simply means a busted rod 
and the sign of very poor skill on the part of the 
fisherman. In most cases where a rod is broken in 
playing a fish it is damaged not by the husky fight 
of the underwater veteran, but because the fisherman 
failed to use it right. 

GIVE AND TAKE THE LINE 

After a run of the game fin, when he takes a long 
stretch of line, start reeling in so that he does not 
find a bunch of slack and come to the top to throw 
the hook. And this game of give and take is the 
real way to play your fish. By keeping your mind 
on the game and your eye towards the fish you can 
tire out most any fish by this simple way of making 
him say uncle. 

And to the guide who sits at the oars while you 
play your first big fish should be given a lot of 
credit for his landing, if you land him. From this 
old-timer who lives fish and fishing five or six months 
of the year, and sits around the cabin-fire dreaming 
of it during the rest of the time, you get a post 
graduate course in landing a fish, during the fight, 
which will be worth many fish to you in the future. 



202 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

So to the success of landing the big fish by the be- 
ginner it's a hundred to one shot that the credit 
should go to a bit of luck, skill and brains. Luck 
because you located the big one and skill acquired 
because you had brains enough to take a little ad- 
vice from the keen fellow handling the oars. And 
at that the fellow at the oars is an important end of 
the team. The way he handles the boat means a 
lot in the successful ending of the battle. It's up to 
him to snake you away from the weed-beds and shal- 
lows in quick order and maneuver the boat so that 
you can follow the turns and dashes of the game fin 
without taking a header out of the craft in the ex- 
citement of frisking him out of his home waters. 

Last season I sat in with a keen young chap when 
he landed a five and a half pound small-mouth bass. 
He had never enjoyed the thrills of a fight with a 
rollicking game fin on the business end of a line; in 
fact, this trip was his first one for anything more than 
a few chubs and sunfish. The winter before I had 
sent him a number of fishing books to help pass the 
time and he had become so interested in the sport 
that he had to let off steam somehow. Feeling a bit 
guilty, I slipped him an invitation for a week in the 
North woods. 

The first day he became quite a fair caster with 
the aid of a Pflueger anti-backlash reel and the sec- 
ond day he shot a cast near a likely looking wind- 
fall. The lure had hardly hit the water when the 



LUCK AND SKILL 203 

big one took it and started south. Here's where 
the kid threw the real dope, stuff that he had ac- 
quired from his books. Right off the pan he yelled 
for me to row out into deep water away from the 
winfalls and he handled that fish like a veteran until 
it made a wonderful leap into the air. The sight 
of that old boss standing on his tail threw the kid 
into high and he tried to jerk the game fin off his 
legs. Buck fever of a high degree was developing 
fast, but he quieted down in a minute and landed 
that man's-sized fish with skill by following the dope 
he had learned the winter before in his den at home. 
Luck and skill, but with about 75 per cent of the 
latter was the reason this big bass found his master 
in a youngster with two days' experience at the fish- 
ing game. 



TACKLE IN THE OFF-SEASON 

After the last trip of the season most of the gang 
stand the rod in a corner of a closet, skid the tackle 
box in after it and then sink into an easy chair for 
the winter. Outside of digging the kit out a few 
times during the season of steam heat, movies and 
newfangled breakfast foods, in order to show a pal 
what's right in the tackle outfit or to browse over a 
bit when the fever gets you, the lay-out usually re- 
ceives no attention until the budding trees and the 
whiff in the air brings the fishing fever to a malig- 
nant stage. Then, of course, you have a feelin' that 
you just simply have to wrap your fingers around 
the butt of a rod and hear the purr of the singing 
reel, and you gather the stuff together and sneak 
out in the back yard to tune 'er up for a few casts. 
Here is where the careless angler, who has just 
tucked his tackle away in the shape it was in at the 
end of the trip finds everything out of gear and in 
need of a few nights overhauling before he can give 
it a whirl. 

Perhaps the silk wrappings of the split-bamboo 
have loosened and are unraveled and the varnish 
cracked, which will take a good week or two to 
shape up, or there may be a set in the tip that gives 

204 



TACKLE IN THE OFF-SEASON 205 

the rod a twist, or the ferrules have become loosened 
by the heat during the closed-up season. Any way 
you look at it the rod is in no shape for immediate 
use, and a little care during the winter with a bit 
of renovating before you put the rod away to hiber- 
nate would have given you a ship-shape piece of 
tackle ready for use anytime. 

An overhauling of the rods before you put them 
to sleep for the winter will add greatly to their life, 
and in this period of the high cost of existing, a rod 
that has nicked the slim old bank roll a nice little 
dent should be handled with kid gloves. If the fer- 
rules or tip have become loosened, remove them and 
scrape off the old cement and cement them on again. 
A couple of coats of varnish will keep the water out 
next season. After the first coat let the rod dry 
for six or eight d^ays before giving it the next coat. 
Whether you keep the rod in a form or hang it up 
by the tip, the best place is a room that is not heated. 
For the fly rod it is a good plan to put it together 
and hang it up by the tip. Drive a small brad in 
the wall molding in a cornier somewhere out of the 
way and hang it up by slipping the tip over the brad. 
Or if this is not possible, hang the rod by each joint 
by tying a piece of cord around the small ends. To 
remove a set in the tip or a joint of the rod, tie a 
small weight at the bottom at the thicker end. The 
rod will then be straight and right when you wish 
to use it on the opening line-wetting rush of the fish- 



2o6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Ing fans. The steel rod is not as sickly as the split- 
bamboo and needs only a little oil to keep it from 
developing a rusty nature. Rub it all over with an 
oiled rag, put it in its little bag and lay it away 
out of harm's way and next season it will be right 
on the job as usual. 

The reel, upon which so much depends in the bait- 
casting game, should be thoroughly cleaned and 
oiled. If you have one of the " take-aparts " it is 
simple to wipe out the old caked oil and the little 
pieces of grinding sand that cut a reel bearing quite 
a bit if you let them collect in the reel innards. Of 
course, if you are a tinkerer and know how to handle 
a screw driver, you can take apart most any reel and 
put it together again, but, as the reel is a finely set 
tool it should be sent to a real reel doctor for a once 
over and cleaning if you don't happen to be one of 
the tinkering clan. Oil the reel well with a light 
oil and a little vaseline on the cogs will help keep 
it in good shape until needed. Take off the old 
casting line before you wrap the reel in a slightly 
oiled rag and put it away in its case. And, by the 
way, there is no better insurance against bumps and 
jams to a reel than a little old leather reel case. It's 
a fine protector for this valuable asset in the bait- 
caster's outfit and pays for itself many times during 
the life of a reel. 

The little old bait-casting line that you wind off 
the reel is usually worth saving for next season. If 



TACKLE IN THE OFF-SEASON 207 

you have dried It out each evening after the day's 
fishing and reversed it every day or so during the 
casting you can figure that it will stand quite a bit 
of usage during the following season. Although a 
fellow will nearly always start off the game each 
year with a couple of new lines It Is worth the small 
amount of trouble necessary in order to have the 
old lines with us. I have had lines with which I 
ended the season stand up well for casting on the 
early trips and later used the same line In the trolling 
end, which is the logical wind-up of the casting line. 

When you remove the line from the reel, rewind 
it on the original spool and wind it as carefully and 
evenly as possible. If fly-casting is your pet hobby, 
remove your oiled or enameled line and coil It in 
loose coils, first pulling the line through a soft rag or 
chamois to take away all dirt and kinks. Coil the 
line In a pile on an even surface of a table and not 
wrap after wrap around the hand, as the latter 
method Is a great producer of kinks and twists. 
Place the coiled line in a fruit jar, covering the top 
with a paper cap and set It away In a dark, dry, cool 
place, as moisture, light and heat are bad medicine 
for enameled or waterproofed hnes. 

Of course the old tackle box Is likely jammed to 
the bursting point with the season's accumulation of 
wobblers, wigglers, spoons and odds and ends that 
a fellow picks up In his effort to locate the " killer " 
he always hopes to find, just around the corner. 



2o8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Sort out the stuff that is at the junklng-off stage and 
put it in the reserves, arranging everything else in 
good order in the box so that you can find it easily 
when showing the kit to the fellow next door. At 
the same time you will be able to paw over it your- 
self at odd times when the call gets you, and thus 
be successful in lifting a plug without pulling up 
other ones in a j ambled mess with it. Wipe the 
spoons, rub a little three-in-one over the metal parts 
and place the box where it is handy for instant refer- 
ence. 



FIFTY WALL-EYE PIKE AND HOW 
THEY CAME TO GAFF 

A REVIEW OF THE BAITS, THE TIME AND 
THE CONDITION OF THE WEATHER WHEN 
THESE WALL-EYE WERE LANDED 

For an accommodating cuss we gotta tip the kelly 
to the wall-eye pike; when most of the other game 
fins are off the feed and hard to coax with any old 
bait, the wall-eye is on the job being a good fellow 
and taking the bait or lure with a wallop. During 
July and August we find him over-anxious to come 
in out of the wet, and for that one little thing we 
thank him. Although he does not make the spec- 
tacular racehorse fight of the trout nor the snappy, 
swishing, leaping fight of the bass, he has enough 
kick in his makeup to give us a good run for our 
money. He is naturally a bottom fish and you have 
to go down to that region to get him. If you hook 
a good-sized wall-eye, you cannot work him in fast, 
as he has a series of tugs and pulls that sure put a 
strain on the tackle. His greatest little trick is to 
make a straight run to the bottom when hooked and 
after you bring him to boatside and think you about 
have him ready for the net, he makes another 

209 



210 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

grand-stand play and goes right down to the bot- 
tom again. He will repeat this trick a number of 
times and all you can do, old man, is work him up to 
the surface again, and you can figure that he will 
make a pulling fight on the way up. 

The wall-eye is found in nearly all waters and is 
a great old breeder, but he's traveling under an as- 
sumed name, as his right moniker is pike-perch; 
however, he has been called wall-eye pike so long 
that we just let him ride under that label. In fact, 
he has a great variety of names, being known in 
some localities as the salmon, jack, jack-salmon, 
glass-eye pike, yellow pike, and blue pike. These 
names were probably tacked on to him because he 
is such a rover and always humming around for a 
feed. In the feeding line he has all the other fish 
backed off the board, he feeds day and night and has 
an awful appetite. He's so darned hungry at times 
that he just sits in with his own family and eats up 
a few of his children, which is going some, even for 
a fish. 

The fact that the wall-eye is a great old family 
producer is the reason he is with us in a goodly 
number in most streams and lakes. After he fath- 
ers a family of a hundred thousand husky young 
pikers, and the little fellows have learned to wag 
their tails, he figures that his Rooseveltian duty is 
performed and he strikes for other waters, leaving 
the youngsters to shift for themselves. 



FIFTY WALL-EYE PIKE 211 

He never travels alone, but joins in with a bunch 
of other roving wall-eyes and thereafter travels In 
a school. He probably does this because he thinks 
that the other fellows may locate a feeding-ground 
and he would miss It. For this Uttle reason, old 
man, when you land a wall-eye In a bay or pool, just 
keep on fishing thereabouts, for It's a hundred to one 
shot that you have struck a school of feeding fish, 
and you can get a well-filled stringer if you play close 
to them. 

Where you find him In numbers one day does not 
mean that you will find him there the next, as he 
flits around without a route or schedule. In no 
matter what depth of water he Is In you will always 
find him bottom feeding, and he Is a clean-cut feeder, 
making his meals on fish as a general thing, although 
he also hkes a crawfish or frog now and then, but 
his natural food Is minnow and pan-fish. To his 
clean diet we can blame the sweet taste of the old 
rascal when browned to a turn In a spider. 

In the lakes you will find him In the small bays, 
where the minnows are generally thick, across the 
mouth of the bays and In the channels between lakes 
and off shores where the water runs from about 
eight to twenty feet In depth. In the river he hangs 
out below rapids, dams and log jams, and in these 
pools is a fine place to cast for him, using live or 
artificial baits, weighted with a dipsey sinker to 
carry the bait down to him. He also likes the sand- 



212 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

bars in rivers, and wading along a bar, casting on 
both sides, is a good way to locate him. 

One peculiarity of this old boy is the fact that 
when you hook a large one you may get the impres- 
sion that you have snagged your line, I know of 
eight big fellows caught last season ranging from 
nine to twelve and a half pounds that were hooked, 
and the lucky anglers who hooked 'em all thought 
they had snagged their line on a log. The reason 
for this I do not know, it may be that the bait was 
slowly passing the big fins and they were too darned 
lazy to move to snap their mouths shut on it and 
take a rest before swallowing it. Or it may be that 
the fish were so gorged with food that they simply 
took the bait as a matter of course, and went back to 
sleep before swallowing it. 

This was the case with a twelve-and-a-half-pound 
wall-eye that I landed last season. The fish was 
caught on one of the hottest July days, by a cast 
over across the mouth of a small bay. The lure 
was a greenbacked white-bellied Heddon's under- 
water Dowagiac minnow, and the only one in that 
neck of the woods. When the first pull came on the 
line and with continued reeling I got no response, I 
thought that I had snagged an underwater windfall. 
We paddled over straight above the apparently 
snagged line, gave it a jerk, and the play opened up 
with a rush. The jerk on the line had force enough 
to bring him right up to the top, and he kicked a 



FIFTY WALL-EYE PIKE 213 

bucketful of water in my face as he turned and made 
for the bottom again. The whole thing was so 
sudden that I nearly took a Brodie out of the canoe 
and started swimming for shore. Three times he 
was brought to the side of the canoe, fighting back 
and forth with a series of snappy jerks in between, 
before he said " uncle," and came into the canoe. 

I had the pleasure last season of reading the 
obituary of 50 wall-eye pike weighing from six 
pounds to fourteen and a half, and the record of 
these big fellows makes good dope for the fellows 
who like to take a shot at the finest tasting fish that 
ever graced the spider, and, at the same time, who 
Is not afraid to admit that he sometimes fishes for 
other fish than the trout, bass, or musky. 

What stands out the strongest in the data on these 
50 old-man-sized wall-eyes is the fact that 26 of 
them were caught in July and 15 of them in August. 
This certainly shows the wall-eye up as a hot- 
weather sport, and you can take it from me, these 
pike sure have made the fishermen feel good when 
they were probably skunked on bass during those hot 
days. Four were landed in September, three in Oc- 
tober, and two in June. So we mark a big red cross 
on July and August for a try at the wall-eyes this 
season. 

In the matter of baits, we find that 34 answered 
to the wiggle of the minnow, which shows without 
a doubt that the minnow is the natural food of the 



214 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

wall-eye. Of these minnows, the cards stack up 14 
to the mud minnow, eight to the chub, six to the 
shiner, four to the perch, and two to the sucker. 
Making a good lead for the mud minnow, which is 
by far the best minnow bait in the whole minnow 
family. The fish do not seem to be able to resist 
the dark brown and golden wiggle of the mud min- 
now, and the fact that it is a hardy cuss gives it 
more life on the hook than the other minnow. 

Following up the bait dope we find that ten of 
these wall-eyes fell to the artificial plugs, and that 
all of these plugs were of the underwater variety. 
The colors or the lures that teased 'em onto the 
stringer shows up five for the green and white com- 
bination, four for the rainbow, and one for the 
perch effect. 

Six old boys answered to the signal of the pork- 
rind and three of these rinds were rigged with a 
small spinner to add to their luring value. Of the 
34 minnows as noted above, 10 of these had the 
help of a spoon or spinner to make them more at- 
tractive. This making 13 of the total number on 
which a spoon or spinner was used. 

Surprising to many fishermen will be the fact that 
28 of these big fins were caught between 10 a. m. 
and 4 p. m., a time o' day when a lot of the boys 
are enjoying a snooze in a shady spot on shore, and 
equally as interesting is the fact that nine of these 
were caught right around noon when the sun is doing 



FIFTY WALL-EYE PIKE 215 

its darndest to drive the fishermen into the shade. 
Fourteen were caught in the late day period from 
4 until 10 p, m., and eight answered to the call in 
the early hours from 6 until 10 a. m. Being by in- 
stinct a hungry nature, it looks like these big wall- 
eyes take no notice of the time in feeding and feed 
right through the day when other fish are a bit off 
the feed. In the late evening fishing it is interesting 
to note that the wall-eye will often take the fly, and 
casting a red ibis or a white miller fly in the white 
water below a dam or rapids will sometimes bring 
a rise out of this bottom fish. I noticed this one 
evening last season while loafing on the shore at 
the bottom of a piece of fairly rough water, I was 
hitting the pipe after an evening meal and noticed a 
swirl as a fish took a butterfly from the surface, so 
I thought I would see how the bass were feeling in 
that piece of water. Making a few casts, I felt a 
fair strike and started him in to the shore and was a 
bit surprised at the style of his fight, no long runs 
nor surface stuff, but an awful bunch of tugs for a 
four-ounce fly-rod. The whole game was clear in 
a few moments, when I netted a two-pound wall- 
eye, so I whipped out the white miller a few times 
and took three nice wall-eyes from that rough httle 
pool. The fly was used as ordinary bass fly. 

As to the weather conditions, 38 of these fish were 
landed when the sun was clear and the day fairly 
hot, eight came to net when the day was cloudy, and 



2i6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

four were caught after dark. Evening fishing for 
the wall-eye is, as a general thing, good, and letting 
the baft down to them at that time will bring good 
results. 

The method of fishing for these old men of the 
tribe shows up trolling as the manner in which 22 
came to grief, while casting brought in 1 8 and still- 
fishing has 10 to Its credit. In still-fishing for the 
wall-eye the depth of the water should be ascertained 
and the minnow lowered to about a foot or two 
above the bott?om, and it is well to move the bait 
around slowly from side to side. The wall-eye will 
take the live bait and move off slowly with it for a 
short distance and then generally stop and swallow 
the bait, but should he keep on moving, just slip him 
the strike by raising the tip of the rod sharply. 
Striking when the fish first takes the bait and starts 
away will simply tear the minnow in two or jerk it 
out of the pike's mouth. And the bait must not be 
allowed to lie on the bottom; the wall-eye, like all 
other fish, has his eyes in the top of his head and 
he sees what's above him and not below. 

Although not a savage swashbuckling fighter like 
the musky or pike, the wall-eye kicks up quite a bit 
o' fuss before you get him into the boat, and while 
playing a big fellow of this tribe between the strike 
and the landing net he puts quite a strain on light 
tackle by the heavy, husky pulling tugs; sort of like 
the swing from side to side of a bulldog after he 



FIFTY WALL-EYE PIKE 217 

gets a grip and decides to stick until the last pull. 
Following the past performances of fifty nice-sized 
wall-eyes we find nearly half of them answered to 
the call of the underwater troll. 

In trolling, the boat was, as a rule, moved very 
slowly, and this method is the most successful in 
trolling, as the wall-eye is not a fish that will chase 
after a bait, you have to place it as conveniently as 
possible to him in order to make him shake a tail 
and go for it, and if it is moving too rapidly he will 
sit back and wait for the next one. He is not the 
energetic, savage, darting villain of the musky and 
pike class. You gotta go more than half way to 
make him take an interest, the fact that he is al- 
ways on the feed never gives him a chance to feel 
the pangs of hunger like the other game fins. In 
casting for him the cast should be long, and slow 
reeling will be found most effective. 

The home waters of these heavy-weights placed 
38 of them in the lakes and 12 from the rivers. It 
is pleasing to note that none of the lakes were mud 
bottoms or sluggish waters, as the wall-eye prefers 
the clear and cold waters and he just dotes on the 
rocky or gravelly bottoms, while the river wall-eye 
makes a specialty of sticking around where the water 
has a bit of current. He likes to hang out below 
the dams and in the waters where the current has 
worn away the banks, making deep pools with a 
swift flow through them. 



2i8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Shooting a glance back over the dope sheet, we 
find that the minnow is the great little enticer for 
the wall-eye and that the little old mud minnow, 
from the stream and creek, commonly called the 
Molly chub, is the lively Httle wiggler that just 
tickles them to death. (Get that, tickles 'em to 
death.) And in the artificials, it Is a toss up in the 
matter of colors between the green and white and 
the rainbow. 

In the matter of time o' day the midday stands 
out with a record that will make a little wall-eye 
fishing look mighty good to some of the boys who 
have let this period slip by because they figured It 
wasn't much use to try for the game cusses In the 
heat of the sun. When it looks bad for most any 
other fishing because of the sun and heat, take a 
little flier at the wall-eye and see If you can raise a 
big one. 

For the fellow who thinks that still-fishing is out 
of his repertoire, let him take a light ten-foot rod 
and do a little still-fishing for the wall-eye and be 
sure he will find some sport and skill necessary In 
the handling of a fair-sized pike, and have his tackle 
In good shape at the wind-up. 

A new thing In trolling for the wall-eye Is to take 
the usual rig for lake trout and go after them in the 
deeper waters. I took a shot at his game last 
season and rounded up a number of fine fellows 
ranging from three and a quarter to seven pounds. 



FIFTY WALL-EYE PIKE 219 

This trolling was done in a piece of water with an 
average depth of 20 feet, in places running from 
10 to 30 feet. 

The rig for this deep trolling is easily assembled 
and it will certainly take your bait down to them. 
Take an eight-ounce, cone-shaped sinker and attach 
it to the end of your line with a swivel, then take 
three pieces of line about three feet long and swivel 
the first piece to your line about two feet above the 
sinker, the next piece swivel on a foot higher, and 
the third piece a foot above that one. On the ends 
of these three lines swivel on an eight-inch piano- 
wire leader, because the big wall-eyes have teeth 
that will cut through a gut leader. To your three 
leaders attach a single or treble "hook as you prefer; 
on each of these hooks bait with a minnow, mud, 
chub, or shiner about six or eight inches long. Let 
your line down and find bottom, then troll along 
very slowly. The big wall-eye loafing along the 
bottom will strike very mildly for his size and may, 
or may not, make a slow move with the bait. To 
save losing any of your good line in case the sinker 
becomes caught on the bottom, an old piece of line 
that has become weakened should be swiveled on 
the end with the sinker attached, so that it will break 
at that point and you lose nothing but the sinker. 
In working this rig successfully it is necessary that 
the sinker follow the bottom while you are trolling, 
and you must troll very slow to get the big fellows. 



220 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Last season with this rig I hooked two fine wall- 
eyes at the same time and they sure made a strenu- 
ous fight when they started on their jigging down in 
the deep water. A small, No. 3 spoon placed be- 
fore each bait makes the lure more attractive, or 
you can use an Archer spinner instead. 

I have found the Lowe-Star spoon in the smaller 
sizes, both singles and tandems quite attractive for 
the wall-eye. The silv^er and golden flashes of this 
spoon with the added lively wobble of the twirling 
spoon seems to wake 'em up down there in the cool 
reaches. 

Although the wall-eye hasn't made the reputation 
for fighting of his friends the trout, bass, or musky, 
there is a lot of credit due him for his being on the 
job all the time, and handling him with light tackle 
is a game worthy of any of the keen fellows who 
answer to the call of the water trails. Here's 
hopin' he gets a bit of credit for the joy he has 
brought to many anglers through taking the bait 
when they least expected it. 



FIFTY PIKE AND HOW THEY CAME 
TO GAFF 

A REVIEW OF THE BAITS, THE TIME AND 
THE CONDITION OF THE WEATHER 
WHEN THESE PIKE WERE LANDED 

For downright cussedness, old man, you got to 
tack the blue-ribbon on the pike. This vicious old 
wolf of the weed-beds and rushes, known by a dozen 
other names and particularly named as pickerel by a 
big bunch of the knights of the rod and reel, is about 
the meanest all-round fin in the whole society of the 
watery recesses, but the big thing that stands out 
in his favor, besides the fact that he puts up a game 
scrap, is that he has a whopping big appetite and 
seems seldom able to fill the feed-bag to the extent 
that he won't take a chance at another morsel as it 
flashes past him in the water. That old hungry 
feelin' is sure a lucky thing for many of the boys 
who might otherwise chalk up a goose-egg for the 
day's fishing. 

He's a right-close cousin to the musky, and a fair- 
sized pike will put up as neat a fight as you'll find in 
a few days' paddle, however, unlike the musky, it is 
seldom he breaks water, unless it be right at the 



222 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

last moment before you gaff him. And here is a 
little real dope on his nature : You may have played 
him a bit and bring him up to the boatside, thinking 
that he is all in. It's a good bet clean across the 
board, old-timer, that he will make a rattling quick 
and gamy fight right at this time, and many of the 
big fellows have made their getaway through a final 
snappy fight when they appeared all in and ready 
for the stringer. That final scrap, when he kicks 
the water in your face and leers at you with his 
mean-looking eyes before he makes a straight-away 
run for about 40 or 50 feet, as you push on the 
thumb pressure, is bound to be a lively few minutes, 
and when you finally slip him the gaff you can feel 
sort of lucky. In fact, a pike is never really landed 
until you have him sizzling in the spider for the 
evening chuck. 

The similarity of appearance in the face and gen- 
eral contour of the pike, musky and pickerel is such 
that it has caused more argument than the age of 
Ann. All three of the outfit have a mean-looking 
mug and the same number and kind of fins, the flat- 
tened head with the protruding lower jaw set with 
dagger-edged teeth, although in coloring and mark- 
ings there is a distinct difference. The body color 
of the pike varies greatly according to the waters In 
which it is found, but as a general thing it has a 
greenish yellow back and sides with yellow spots 
which have the appearance of being daubed on the 



FIFTY PIKE 323 

fish with a paintbrush and 'they run longways with 
the body and are of no special design or size. The 
sure way to correctly call the name of these cousins 
and get it right every time is to take a " look-see " 
at the cheeks and gill covers. On the musky the 
cheeks and gill covers have scales on a very narrow 
strip on the upper half or less than half; while the 
pike has scales on the entire cheek and the upper half 
of the gill covers, and the pickerel has both cheeks 
and gill covers entirely covered with scales. Hav- 
ing gotten this dope out of our system, we will now 
proceed with a line of stuff about this game boy that 
will make some of the " holier than thou " anglers 
who have an opinion that the pike is not worth fish- 
ing for sit up and wipe their glasses, or at the very 
least make 'em snort out a few more snorts as they 
sit on their front porch doing their day's fishing. 

Regardless of the fact that a well-known writer 
recently stated that the record weight of the largest 
pike caught was i6j4 pounds, and that there is no 
authentic record of larger pike known, here is a lay- 
out of dope on the last kick of 50 pike ranging in 
weight from 12 pounds to 29 pounds, and the baits, 
lures and conditions under which they answered to 
the call of their masters. These 50 game old pike 
were caught in waters ranging from Lake George 
in the east, to Minnesota lakes on the west, and 
from the Canadian waters of the North to the 
Indiana lakes, and on the sun-kissed days of May 



224 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

right through until the snow-flurried days of Oc- 
tober — range and time enough to give us a fair 
idea of what teases the old roughnecks out of their 
hunting waters. 

In the matter of baits, passing our lamps over 
the score-card, we find that 14 of the 50 pike were 
caught on artificial plugs, 12 answered to the flash 
of the spoon, ten took a wallop at the minnow or 
chub, four came to gaff via the frog, and ten couldn't 
resist the wiggle of the pork-rind. 

Of the colors of the artificials, which by the way 
were the ordinary-sized bass plugs, the white with a 
red head and the green back and white belly come in 
neck-and-neck with six each to their credit, and the 
rainbow color comes walking in with two chalked up 
for it. No doubt the brighter-colored lures make 
this strong finish because they were used on days 
that were overcast or cloudy, as nine of the 14 were 
caught on days of that condition of weather. And 
on a day of this kind the white plugs make the most 
attractive lure for most any game fin. They are 
easily seen in the water and seem to awaken an awful 
curiosity on the part of the fighters, yet, on a day 
of this kind, they are not so flashy under water that 
they scare the fish, which is often the case on a 
bright, clear day, when the water is smooth and the 
sun shoots its light down to considerable depth — 
at such time, the rainbow, perch, and darker-colored 
lures are more effective. 



Here are something new in baits, something just a bit different 
and everyone of tKem a good lure. 

(1) A hand made Orley Tuttle bucktail crawfish, a killer for bass. 
(2) A small size Orley Tuttle hair Devil Bug for trout. (3) Joe 
Welsh Blue Devil Darning Needle, a floater that brings the big 
trout and bass up to the surface strike. The transparent wings on 
this lure are wonderful and few fish seem to be able to resist it. 
(4) A Palmer Grasshopper, cork body, one of the most natural look- 
ing flies in the game and a sure killer for surface fishing. (5) The 
Emerson Hough Bucktail Fly, the long wiggling hairs of which seem 
to set the trout crazy. For wild water it is particularly effective. 
(6) An Ed Wyman Floating Bass Bug. For stream fishing this fly 
1 have found particularly taking and it is tied with the skill of an 
artist. I have one of these bugs with a record of 209 small-mouth 
bass. (7) A Palmer floating Millar, fine for late evening fishing for 
trout. (8) Peckinpaugh Midget Bucktail Shiner for trout. (9) Peck- 
inpaugh bass size Bucktail Shiner, both mighty fine fly rdd lures. 
10) Peckinpaugh floating Trout Midget and (11) Peckinpaugh float- 
ing bass bug. These floaters are tied in standard patterns and are very 
effective lures. (12) A Hildebrandt Bucktail Silver Shiner Minnow 
can be used either with the fly-rod or with small sinker and spinner 
for bait casting rod and good either way for bass and trout. (13) The 
larger size Tuttle Devil Bug, great for large big trout and bass. (14) 
Tuttle's Hair Mouse, new and striking and a fish getter. (15) Ed 
VVyman's famous Hairfly, a most effective and taking fly for small- 
mouth bass in the stream, striking in design and cleverly tied, the 
wiggling hairs of this fly seem alive and force the fish to strike. 



FIFTY PIKE 225 

Following along through the dope sheet of the 
last kick of the fifty pike we find some of these old 
barbarians answered to the twirling lure of the 
spoon, the fascinating wiggle of the minnow, the 
juicy taste of the pork-rind, the kicking crawl of the 
little green-backed frog — variety enough for the 
appetite of any pike. 

As to the spoons used, they run small in size, 
ranging from No. 3 to No. 12 with an average of 
No. 7, and out of the 12 caught on this flashing in- 
vitation, nine were caught by trolling. In material, 
six were nickel finish, three enameled white, and two 
brass, while one was nothing else but the half of a 
clam shell. Do you get that, old scout? Half of 
a clam shell for a lure; just tack that info up on the 
wall for future reference when you are out some- 
where and find that your spoons are back at the 
camp. And what makes this little old clam shell 
stand out like a house afire, is the fact that the rol- 
licking old pike that answered to its coaxing glide 
through the water was a 29-pounder — which pike, 
by the way, is some fish, take it from your little 
brother of the swishing line and the humming reel. 
Can you slip your thoughts into high and see the 
driving rush he makes for a getaway; feel the burn 
on the thumb, the strain on the tackle, and offer the 
little murmured prayer that the gods of the out- 
doors are with you and that the tackle holds? And 
when I slip you the dope that this old flat-headed 



226 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

wolf was caught on a stormy, cold morning in May, 
you know, boy, that he sure had a kick in his tail 
from his wintering in the cold waters, that he had 
not lost through lolling around in the sun-heated 
waters of the summer months. Ye gods ! what a 
scrap, and all for the half of a clam shell. Re- 
member the clam shell, old top, and may its fame 
never grow less. 

Of the ten pike landed through the fascinating 
movement of the minnow, six of the minnows were 
rigged up with a small spinner or spoon, while the 
minnows ranged from shiner, mud minnow, and 
river chub down to one caught on a small perch, 
while the four frogs that landed winners were 
topped off with a bit of red flannel, which touch of 
color, or color combination with the greenish backs 
of the hoppers and white bellies seemed to make an 
attractive lure for the pike. The pork-rind cer- 
tainly rides in nicely with ten to its credit, which 
sure places that juicy dainty right up in the front 
row, and, believe me, we haven't heard the last from 
the pork-rind in the fishing game by any means. 
The more it is used the stronger hold it gets on 
the fishing fan, and rigged up with a piece of red 
yarn or red flannel, as six of these ten were rigged, 
it makes the old cusses sit up on their tails and their 
mouth water. Nine of the ten pork strips had a 
small spoon or spinner linked on in front to make it 
an added attraction to the hungry pike. 



FIFTY PIKE 227 

The months in which these pike signed up with the 
" drys " are scattered all through the fishing season, 
with September standing out with fourteen, followed 
with October, which has ten to its credit, July eight, 
June seven, August six, and May five, all of which 
goes to show that the pike has an appetite right 
through the season and that he is particularly on 
the feed at the tail end of the season when his mouth 
is again in good shape. August slips in with six 
because of the fact that the pike's gums are very 
badly swollen during the last two weeks of that 
month and he is practically off the feed during the 
day at that time, or at least not in much humor to 
take a crack at a lure; he probably feels more like 
yelling for the dentist than anything else. At this 
same time a majority of the lakes are in bloom, or 
working, as the guides term it; that is, the under- 
water weeds and growth have come to seed, and the 
water is filled with small, minute particles which give 
it a seedy, cloudy, or milky appearance. Although 
some writers argue that the fish do not feed on min- 
nows and live food during this period, but live on 
the vegetable matter in the water, I have found that 
late night-fishing in the shallows and small bays will 
get a strike when you cannot excite them during any 
other time of the day. At night it is probably not 
as much work for the hungry fins to snap up a meal 
as it is in the daytime, or perhaps the minnows, tired 
out by the lively swimming of the day, are lying 



228 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

around hitting the hay, and the big fellows simply 
have to swim along and swallow them. Whatever 
the scientific reason may be, that doesn't worry me 
a hellovalot, but I do know that taking a wallop 
at 'em at night, after I have cast my arm off during 
the day and cussed my tongue off into the bargain, 
generally means a few fish for the frying pan for 
the next a. m. If you are going after the pike dur- 
ing August, slip a little flashlight into your kit and 
give them the once-over on an ink-black night; that 
little old light will save you fish and your disposition 
when you get a backlash, and you're sure to get it. 

Reckoning the time o' day that these husky fins 
preferred to take their feed, a glance at the dope 
sheet shows us the early fishing from 4 a. m. until 
10 a. m. cleans the pot to the tune of twenty-four; 
the late fishing from 4 p. m. until 10 p. m. runs close 
with eighteen; and the midday fishing from 10 a. m. 
until 4 p. m. walks in with eight. The habit of the 
pike to feed early and late, especially in the warm 
weather, lines him up with other game fish that make 
their main forays at that time. 

Off the edges of the weed beds and way down 
among the underwater weed growths where the 
shadows were deep and dark the old bushwacking 
pike made his hangout and like most of the hold-up 
breed he does not favor the bright light of the sun 
when most active in a foray upon the weaker fishes. 

As to the weather, the cloudy or overcast day 



FIFTY PIKE 229 

looms up with thirty-four and the bright and sunny 
days sixteen, while twenty-four of the pike were 
caught when the water was ruffled by a slight breeze, 
fourteen when the water was broken and rough 
from a fairly strong breeze, and twelve on a calm 
day. 

The home waters of forty of these pike were lo- 
cated in lakes and ten of them lived on rural routes 
in the rivers. The majority of the lakers were 
caught off the edges of lily pads, weed beds, and 
rushes and in among the submerged weed growths. 
Most of the river pirates were caught off the points 
jutting out into the river, near windfalls and logs, 
along bends where the river had dug Into the banks 
and near partly submerged brush heaps. Quite a 
few of the lakers caught In September and October 
were taken near the inlets and outlets, in the shal- 
lows, where the feeding was good; the moving 
waters at these points being alive with minnows and 
pan-fish who were, themselves, feeding on the food 
carried down by the moving waters. 

Thirty-six came to grief through casting and 
fourteen were caught by trolling, and the tackle 
used varied from light bass casting outfits to the 
heavier outfits used by some fishermen when after 
the musky, although the light-tackle sportsman dom- 
inated the events. The steel rodsters show up with 
thirty-seven and the split bamboo with twelve, while 
one was caught on a long bamboo pole and this old 



230 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

" he-whop " a 19-pounder, fought for forty minutes. 

Way back in 1770 old Doc Brookes indited a 
book to " those who angle in pursuit of fishes," and 
this old worm-eaten book shows that the Doc had 
a keen idea of the rascally pike and his greedy, vi- 
cious nature. Here's a few words quoted from this 
old-timer of the early days: "This Fish is of so 
voracious Nature, that he will swallow another Fish 
almost as big as himself. Certain it is with his 
ravenous disposition he will not spare his own Kind. 
A Pike catched in Barn-Meer was an Ell long, and 
weighed thirty-five pounds; it was presented to Lord 
Cholmandeley, who ordered it put into a Canal in the 
Gardens, wherein were abundance of several Sorts 
of Fish. About twelve Months after his Lordship 
drawed the Canal, and found that his overgrown 
Pike had devoured all the Fish, except one large 
Carp, that weighed between nine and ten Pounds 
and that was bitten in several Places. The Pike 
was then put into the Canal again, together with 
Abundance of Fish with him to feed upon all of 
which he devoured in less than a Year's Time; and 
was observed by the Gardener and Workman there 
to take the Ducks, and other Waterfowl, under 
water; whereupon they shot Magpies and Crows, 
and threw them into the Canal, which the Pike took 
before their Eyes." 

With old Doc Brookes, who has long passed to 
his reward, and it should be a good one for his ef- 



FIFTY PIKE 231 

fort to wise up the early-day fishermen, we agree 
that he had the right dope on the Pike, although he 
does shoot in a bunch of cap. letters in his writings. 
Last season, I sat in at the swan song of an eleven- 
pound pike that put up a game old fight and when 
he was cut up for the spider that evening we found 
a three-and-three-quarter-pound wall-eye pike repos- 
ing in his innards. And the condition of this wall- 
eye showed that it had just been swallowed shortly 
before the pike was landed — what an appetite this 
old cuss must have had to gorge a fair-sized wall- 
eye and then pick his teeth on a small-casting spoon, 
or was it merely his innate inheritance of vicious- 
ness passed down to him from some of those earlier 
barbarians about which old Doc Brookes wrote in 
the little old worm-eaten book which I treasure so 
highly. 

Whatever the standing, in the sport of fishing 
given to the pike by some of the ultra-exclusive rod 
wielders, you gotta give him credit for being on the 
job most of the time and that you can get him most 
anywhere. And also to the pike, we give thanks 
because he has gladdened the hearts of many fish- 
ermen who have neither the time nor the bank roll 
to lay out for a thousand-mile trip to the home 
waters of the gamer fins in their native haunts. At 
that, old top, if you take a flier at him in the fall, 
after the first frost has golden-tinted the great out- 
doors, you will find he has a snappy kick in his tail 



232 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

and a keenly alive bunch of gray matter that will 
make landing him a battle to feel proud of. And 
for all of this, I say give the devil his due, and don't 
pick him up out of the water by the eye sockets be- 
cause he sure has a sharp lay-out of teeth and he 
knows how to use 'em. 



FISHING TACKLE, OUTDOOR EQUIP- 
MENT FOR CAMP, TRAIL, LAKE 
AND STREAM 

THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES HAVE BEEN TESTED AND 

TRIED-OUT UNDER RIGID CONDITIONS AND 

THEY CARRY MY UNQUALIFIED 

APPROVAL 

During the past few years as editor of the Na- 
tional Sportsman Magazine, fishing editor of the 
old Chicago Herald, the Chicago Daily News, and 
author of a series of articles on fishing, hunting and 
the outdoors for over fifty of the leading daily 
newspapers of the country I have had thousands of 
requests from sportsmen asking for my opinion on 
this or that in the tackle line, or what I thought of 
this particular piece of kit, or would you carry this 
line of food in your duffle bag on a two-weeks' canoe 
trip. Although having fished from the bent-pin 
stage up to now and toted a rifle or shotgun from 
as far back as I can remember, there were many 
lines of goods that I had not used, therefore was 
not familiar with them and could not give an honest 
opinion on their value in the woods or along the 
waters. 

233 



234 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

To be both square with my readers and fair to 
the maker of a particular piece of kit about which 
query had been made and with which I had no ex- 
perience or knowledge as to its material, workman- 
ship or adaptability for the outer's use, I instituted 
in the National Sportsman a Tryout and Testing 
Department, giving the maker of any piece of out- 
doors outfit the privilege of submitting his goods, 
same to be put through whatever paces I wished to 
give it during the work-out, my report to be pub- 
lished, and from which I could base a definite and 
worth-while reply to a reader. 

During the past year and a half I have tried 
out and tested 364 pieces of kit; of these I have 
favorably passed on and reported 168 as being in 
my judgment high class in material and first class 
in workmanship, and worthy of a place in any sports- 
man's outfit. On others I have reported either con- 
ditions that could be corrected, or that certain stuff 
was not of a grade or value enough to receive a 
favorable report. 

Following is a selection of reports that have 
been made on goods that have been submitted by 
the maker, without any strings tied to them, and 
upon which I have passed as being right and of 
value to a sportsman who prides himself on having 
a kit that he can show to a pal and feel that it will 
stand the gaff in camp, on the trail or waters. 
These goods were all given a thorough workout 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 235 

under far more rigid conditions than they could ever 
receive with ordinary usage, some of the tests ex- 
tending over a period of six months to a year before 
being completed, and it is a pleasure to me to place 
my unqualified endorsement upon them. The try- 
ing out of these different pieces of kit, under vary- 
ing conditions, has been one of the most interesting 
and instructive things that I have ever handled, and 
if the outer derives any value from the many hours 
devoted to the work I will feel that the effort has 
been rightly placed and that the work has accom- 
plished even more than the good that was originally 
intended. 

PFLUEGER-SUPREME CASTING REEL 

Pflueger-Supreme Casting Reel. — Made 
by the Enterprise Mfg. Co., Akron, Ohio. For a 
reel that minimizes backlashes to zero and makes 
a clever caster out of an amateur in a day's casting, 
the Pflueger-Supreme reel which is combination level- 
winder, anti-backlash, freespooler, certainly is a tool 
that takes all the work out of casting and adds pleas- 
ure to the sport. No more cussin' from tangled 
lines nor tired fingers from guiding the line evenly on 
the spool. The level-winding part of the reel re- 
mains stationary when casting, thus avoiding the 
frictional wear on the line and on the level winding 
part of the reel. As you start reeling in, the line 



236 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

is picked up by the carrier and laid on the spool as 
evenly as the thread on a new spool. The level 
winder is encased, which makes it dirt, sand and 
water proof and the carrier only works while the 
line is being reeled in. The gears which are gen- 
erated spiral toothed are always in mesh which 
makes it impossible to strip them, the clutch taking 
hold automatically when the line is reeled in. The 
automatic thumbers set on the inside of the end plate 
make the reel anti-backlash; as the tension of the 
bait diminishes, these thumbers slow down the spool 
and as the bait drops on the water the spool stops. 
A mighty handy part of the reel is the adjusting 
screw with a dial regulator on the end plate by which 
the tension of the thumbers can be regulated to the 
weight of the lure. A complete twist of this dial 
and the reel is a free-spool, level-winder for the 
fellow who wishes to thumb the reel without the 
help of the automatic thumbers. The reel is fin- 
ished in the dull satin silver which throws no flashing 
signals to the waiting fish. It is built right and of 
fine material and will last a fisherman a lifetime. 
For night-fishing, when the big ones are out, it is 
a wonder worker. The Pflueger-Supreme reel car- 
ries the usual guarantee of the Enterprise Mfg. Co. 
as to quality and service. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 237 

TELARANA NOVA LEADERS 

Telarana Nova Leaders. — Imported by Joe 
Welsh, Pasadena, Calif. The Joe Welsh Telarana 
Nova Leaders are wonders in the leader line. 
They are made of one length, without a splice or 
knot in it, and any fisherman knows the value of this 
feature alone in a leader. They are quality goods 
and wear till the cows come* home ; they carry more 
strength in their make-up than one would expect 
in a leader and you never have to worry about 
leader troubles when using them. Besides the 
strength and durability of these leaders, they have a 
color that blends in with the water and are prac- 
tically invisible; they throw no reflections whatever 
and seem to blend in with the water in such a way 
that they cannot be seen at all. I have one of these 
leaders that has been used two years and it has not 
shown up any weakness, fraying or bad spots; it 
should be good for another season or the openers 
anyway. They come in sizes for most any kind of 
fresh and salt water fishing and can be had up to 
nine feet in length without a knot. When you 
figure that you can use a Telarana Nova Leader all 
season you gotta admit that it is some leader. 
Without a doubt this leader is the greatest develop- 
ment in the leader line since old Daddy Walton was 
in the game. When the water is crystal clear and 
the light brilliant and you have tried the ordinary 



238 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

gut leaders, throwing their reflection like a bright 
streak in the water, just tie on a Telarana Nova 
Leader and note the results in the creel. For their 
strength, the fact that they are knotless and that 
they are practically invisible in the water these lead- 
ers are recommended as being right and they should 
be carried by every fly-fisherman. 

PFLUEGER-REDIFOR ANTI-BACKLASH 
REEL 

Pflueger-Redifor Anti-Backlash Reel. — 
Made by the Enterprise Mfg. Co. Akron, Ohio. 
Well, fellows, you lads who have a hankering to get 
into that great little old sport of tossing the plug, 
spinner and pork-rind, minnow or frog to the big 
chief of the weed beds, via the short casting rod 
and haven't the time to learn the art of thumbing 
the line, Cheer up ! You can do it with the Pflueger- 
Redifor A-B-L. reel and in a half an hour or so. 
Of course, it takes a little more time than that to get 
accuracy and distance, but you can make a mighty 
big start without any trouble in a half an hour any- 
way. Just f'rinstance. Two seasons ago I took a 
youngster up north to learn the game, gave him my 
Pflueger-Redifor A-B-L., told him about it and in an 
hour he had three bass, by evening he was quite 
good at casting and two days later after fishing all 
day with him, my old guide thought he had been 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 239 

casting for two or three years. It does the work. 
It makes backlashes a darned hard thing to pro- 
duce with it and it is a boon to the fellow who wishes 
to learn, but figures that he hasn't got the time to 
dope out the thumbing control and the mystery of 
backlashes. It is a wonder worker, automatic in 
action without anything to get out of order, all you 
have to do is cast. The anti-back-lash end is con- 
trolled by centrifugal thumbers on the left flange of 
the spool. The generated spiral toothed gears with 
which this reel is fitted run longer and smoother 
than the ordinary spur toothed gear. The hard- 
ened steel pinions run in phosphor bronze bushed 
bearings and ride on agate jeweled cups. End play 
in the spool is controlled by adjustable tension oil 
cups and the reel is fitted with a chck and drag. 
The dull satin finish of the German silver is a winner 
and the low spool, long barrel design is ideal. It 
is a thoroughbred. The cast is not retarded by the 
thumbers, they do not act on the end plate until the 
lure slows up the pull on the line and that is when 
you want them to work. For night-fishing it is a 
dandy tool. It certainly is death on backlashes. 
Material and workmanship are of the best right 
through the entire reel and it is a fine high class tool 
at a moderate price. 



240 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

FLY ROD WIGGLER 

Fly Rod Wiggler. — Made by the W. J. 
Jamison Co, 736 So. California Ave., Chicago, 111. 
Along comes Jamison with the very, very latest, the 
Fly Rod Wiggler, a nice little minnow shaped 
wooden bait that looks so nice that you feel like 
wearing it for a watch charm. A little fellow i 3/4 
to 2 1/8 inches long that don't even press down a 
pair of postage scales enough to hardly pull the 
indicator down below the starting line. And say 
the way the two advance models of this bait made 
the small-mouth bass fighting mad to get to them 
last Fall was a caution; large trout are also very 
partial to it. With a fly rod just a bit stiffer than 
the very light trout rods say a five to six or seven 
ounce rod, they cast free and easy with just a trifle 
more pull than a fly. In fact they cast and lift easier 
than a large bass fly or a small spinner. They come 
in varied colors and are fitted with one double hook. 
When you use it in the weeds, turn the hook points 
up and let 'em stay down when casting clean water. 
It wiggles along twelve to fifteen inches below the 
surface but it Is a floater and can be used for surface 
fishing by retrieving it slower. Now that bass and 
pickerel fishing with the fly rod is developing more 
and more each season, this lure should be a mighty 
popular bait as it Is undoubtedly an interest creator 
among the bass and picks. It looks and acts like a 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 241 

minnow and with a small weight ahead of it works 
fine on the ordinary bait-casting rod. Also great 
for deep trolling for wall-eyed pike, land locked 
salmon, etc. It is made just as strong and perfect as 
any of the rest of Jamison's goods and more you 
couFd not say for a lure. 

HEDDON'S DOWAGIAC CASTING RODS 

Heddon's Dowagiac Casting Rods. — Made 
by James Heddon's Sons, Dowagiac, Mich. The 
Heddon's split-bamboo bait-casting rod is a mighty 
fine one and made right all the way through and at 
the same time you can get it in price from four dol- 
lars up to twenty-five and a good rod that does not 
stagger your bank roll. Even from the lowest priced 
ones up you get a good rod and the topnotcher 
is a winner. I have used these rods from the old 
one piecer up to the No. 15 and they all work well. 
The bamboo is selected, the ferrules of German sil- 
ver, shouldered, hand welt and satin finish while the 
guides are agate and hardened steel. The construc- 
tion of these rods is on the one-piece demountable 
style and that gives you a long tip and short butt; 
this style allows free whip to the tip giving the bam- 
boo a chance to bend with all its natural resihency, 
throwing the bait with practically no strain on the 
wrist or arm. They are full of action, yet strong 
and sturdy and a tool that you can handle with pride 



242 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

on any lake or stream. They look and act the part 
of a thorobred. The fact that the ferrule is set well 
below the center of the rod, down towards the butt 
eliminates the chance of breakage at the ferrule as 
the bend of the rod centers well above the ferrule. 
Care in selection of bamboo, thoroughly seasoned, 
and then care and skill in manufacture as well as the 
Heddon name behind the rod as a guarantee for 
workmanship and material means that the Heddon 
rods are right in every way. 

BABY CRAB WIGGLER 

Baby Crab Wiggler. — Made by James Hed- 
don's Sons, Dowagiac, Mich. When Heddons 
thought of imitating the little old crab, that suc- 
culent food of the enterprising bass and other game 
fish, they sure hit the bull-eye right plumb in the 
center. For a something different bait in the ar- 
tificial line with a wiggle, dive and crawl of the crab 
tied up in its make-up the crab wiggler has been 
making the game fish strike in that swirling curve 
that almost takes the hair off the head as the game 
rascals drive into it. I have had very fine luck 
with the crab wiggler finished in the natural crab 
color, especially for bass and big wall-eye pike and 
the smaller baby crab wiggler is a wonderfully good 
lure for stream bait-casting for small-mouth bass. 
It is a floater and sure has a great wiggling crawl in 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 243 

the water. I had the best results by working the 
crab wiggler through a series of short jerks of the 
rod, that is by giving the tip of the rod a slight 
jerk, then making a couple turns on the reel handle 
followed by another slight jerking movement and so 
on until finally reeled in. About the secon'd jerk, 
which gives the crab wiggler a sort of backward, 
darting crawl like the real crab, some old " he-bass " 
generally gave it a crack and the fun was on. Like 
all of the famous line of Heddon's Dowagiac baits, 
the crab wiggler is made right both in material and 
workmanship. The enamel finish of the bait is 
excellent and it stands up under mighty rough usage 
without cracking or chipping. The new scale finish, 
underlaid with red and with a golden tint to the side 
scales is a rattling attractive lure any time, while 
the white finish I have found particularly good for 
night and moonlight-fishing as well as on a cloudy or 
dark day. The natural finish crab color makes a 
100% winner for fall casting when the crabs have 
become a bit scarce, although this finish I have found 
good all through the season. The crab wiggler is 
a worthwhile artificial in any kit. 

WILSON WOBBLERS AND GETSEM BAIT 

Wilson Wobblers and Getsem Bait. — Made 
by the Hastings Sporting Goods Works, Hastings, 
Mich. The whole family of Wilson Wobblers are 



244 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

good baits but the one that stands out way ahead of 
the rest Is the old reliable fluted wobbler. This 
little old bait has a record as a fish getter that will 
make the rest of the family wiggle some to beat it. 
It has the most natural travel through the water 
possible to obtain by whittling a chunk of red cedar 
and it darts in through the water in a smooth swing 
that resembles the live bait to a fare-you-well. I 
know of many old musky, husky to the weight of 
from 25 to 35 pounds, that have answered to the last 
call at the inviting wiggle of the white Wilson wob- 
bler with red flutes. And bass, say old-timer, it 
makes 'em crazy to get at it. The cupped Wilson 
wobbler is a good surface bait for the shallows, it 
travels on the top and has a bit of an erratic crawl 
that attracts attention, while the winged wobbler 
dives to a depth of about four feet and is especially 
good for the warmer weather when the fish are 
down deep looking for a little cool spot. The Six- 
in-one wobbler has an adjustable visor that can be 
moved to regulate the diving depth and make the 
wobbler do anything from a surface crawl to as deep 
as a six foot underwater swim and the motion it takes 
is attractive to the game fins. Of the whole outfit, 
however, I personally stack my chips on the white, 
red fluted wobbler, I am never without it on the 
fishing waters. The Getsem bait is a weedless plug 
in imitation of a chunk of pork and it can be cast 
right into the middle of a bunch of weeds or lily pads 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 245 

and come out without bringing the weed bed with it. 
It is a weedless bait. It should be reeled slowly 
and make the strike quickly when the fish strikes and 
don't be afraid to give it a strong strike as the ar- 
rangement of the hooks to keep the bait weedless 
make this necessary. For the weedy places where 
the big ones hang out, the Getsem is a livewire win- 
ner. The whole Wilson family of Wobblers and the 
Getsem are A-i in material and workmanship and 
they are good lures. 

SHANNON TWIN SPINNER 

Shannon Twin Spinner. — Made by the 
W. J. Jamison Co., 736 South California Avenue, 
Chicago, 111. I take off my hat to the Shannon Twin 
Spinner, it is certainly a winner. On sight, the ex- 
perienced fisherman will at once see its practicability 
and get it for his tackle box. The spoons are small 
and are attached onto swivels at the ends of piano 
wires which bend up from the eye of the hook, and 
the big winning point for the bait is that the spoons 
do their flashing spinning right above the point of 
the hook. Often a bass will strike at the spoons 
and on many lures the distance of the spoon from the 
hook makes k possible for many of the fish to be 
lost through not hooking them. Not so with the 
Shannon, the game fish thdit strikes the spoon strikes 
the hooks at the same time. This spinner comes 



246 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

either with a red fly or plain with a weight for 
keeping the bait righ~t side up. The idea of putting 
the spoons above the hook was doped up by Jesse 
P. Shannon, a fisherman than whom there is no bet- 
ter, and a thoroughly practical fellow. I found this 
spinner entirely weedless, the wires upon which the 
spoons are swiveled and the whirling spoons them- 
selves acting as weed-guards, and the bait comes out 
of the thickest weeds without a trailing bunch of 
bait-hiding weeds. The bait without the fly makes 
a fine lure used with the frog, pork-rind or minnow 
and is just right for casting, while the weighted fly 
makes a small-mouth bait that gets the fish. I find 
that the spoons spin very well when the bait is 
reeled in slowly and also In trolling, they still wiggle 
around and shoot their flashes even at the slow speed 
of that style of fisliing. Taking the bait all around, 
it is certainly right in every way, material, work- 
manship and the big point remains that it is a fish 
getter and I feel sure the fellow who uses it will 
never be without it. 

HILDEBRANDT NIGHT BUG AND BUCK- 
TAIL SHINER 

HiLDEBRANDT NiGHT BUG AND BUCKTAIL 

Shiner. — Made by the John J. Hlldebrandt Co., 
Logansport, Ind. These two new lures of the Hil- 
debrandts are right In line with the new era in the 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 247 

fly game. The Night-Bug Is tied to resemble a 
night moth and the yellow, brown and white com- 
bination with the luminous body makes a cracking 
good lure for night fly-fishing. This is a floating fly 
and used with a small aluminum spinner it makes a 
strong play for the bass at night and that is the time 
to get the big ones. The fly Is well tied and has 
twin hooks working out of the under side of the 
body. The Bucktail Shiner is light enough for the 
fly-rod and still large enough to be attractive, and 
the move of the bucktail hair in the water makes a 
rather enticing lure for game fish. More and more 
the hair fly will be used and this bucktail minnow 
tied on a No. i-o sneck hook is a pleasing departure 
from the usual run of flies. This fly is a good lure 
for a dark day especially and I have found it suc- 
cessful for both bass and trout. Both these lures 
are well made and tied with the usual skill of the 
Hildebrandts and for the angler who delights in try- 
ing the new stuff, and wants to try it with the idea 
that it will help him land the big ones, these two flies 
can be recommended as good dope and worthy of 
the try on the next fishing trip. 

PFLUEGER-SURPRISE MINNOW 

Pflueger-Surprise Minnow. — Made by the 
Enterprise Mfg. Co., Akron, O. Here Is an excel- 
lent artificial minnow, and it is a natural fellow at 



248 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the same time, it does not need a bunch of metal 
adornments to make it do a wiggling darting dive 
and the swim of a live minnow. It is of red cedar, 
the best all-round wood for making an artificial and 
it is finished in all the popular color designs with a 
crackerjack waterproof porcelain enamel that stands 
up under any kind of casting without cracking or 
chipping. It is of minnow shape and what makes 
it do the wonderful lively swim under the water is 
the mouth-shaped cut or groove on the front under- 
side, and right where the mouth ought to be anyway. 
It is a very effective lure, of the semi-surface class, 
riding about ten to fifteen Inches under water when 
reeled in at the ordinary fishing speed and it goes 
deeper if speeded up, floating when you happen to 
stop to untangle a backlash. A few seasons ago 
I had one of these minnows along up north for a 
workout, it was cold and snow flurries made casting 
a bit of rough work. For two days the game ones 
had been off the strike, the pal and I had thrown 
them everything in the outfit without much success. 
I had loaned my pal the one Pflueger-Surprise min- 
now, a perch colored affair and that afternoon he 
landed a five pound fifteen ounce small-mouth bass 
and five others that just tipped the scale a tremble 
below fifteen pounds, all with this Surprise Minnow. 
It seemed the big ones could not keep away from it. 
My own string was not large enough or heavy 
enough to mention that day. After a lot of coaxing, 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 249 

and then actually stealing this plug away from the 
pal, I had quite a nice bit of sport with it. It is 
still in my outfit a trifle battered and dinted from 
two years' use, but it still gets the fish when it is hard 
to interest them in hitting the lure. For its natural 
minnow-like movement in the water, the fine finish 
and good workmanship I commend it to the bait- 
caster as a rattling good lure. 

PFLUEGER ALL-IN-ONE MINNOW 

Pflueger All-in-one Minnow. — Made by the 
Enterprise Mfg. Co., Akron, Ohio. This new bait 
of the Pfluegers is a very good one and will no doubt 
be as popular as their Pflueger-Surprise Minnow 
which is sure a dinger in the plug line. The All-in- 
one bait is a combination floater and underwater af- 
fair and is made of selected red cedar. The enam- 
eling is of water-proof porcelain and is practically 
indestructible. Continued casting among the shore 
rocks, windfalls and logs failed to more than nick 
it on the sharp edges — no cracks or chips were 
noted. This hammering of a plug among rocks, 
however, is treatment no angler gives his artificials, 
but it shows that the stuff stands up under excep- 
tional hard usage. The minnow is mounted with 
two hand-forged treble hooks with patented fasten- 
ers which allow hooks to be removed and attached 
quickly. There are four metal planes with each min- 



250 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

now, one to give it a rotary motion; one keeping the 
minnow well on the surface and throwing a natural 
ripple similar to live surface-swimming baits; one to 
make it dive shallow with a wiggle like a crippled 
minnow, and the other diving deep with the same 
darting minnow-like motion. These planes can be 
changed instantly to meet all conditions of water. 
Made in the killing colors and luminous for night- 
fishing. This lure proved attractive to bass, pike, 
musky, and the green and white to wall-eye pike. 
The new four-hundred-page catalog of the Enter- 
prise Mfg. Co. is one of the most comprehensive 
books on fishing tackle issued for some time and de- 
serves a place in the library of every fisherman 
where it can be used for reference. The original 
leaping-bass design on the cover is a corker and 
will make you pant for the call of lake and stream. 
The " Pflueger Guarantee " of workmanship and 
material is behind this new bait, and it will live up to 
that guarantee. 

LOWE-STAR SPOON 

Lowe-Star Spoon. — Made by the Enterprise 
Manufacturing Company, Akron, Ohio. This 
spoon is so swell looking that, honestly, fellows, 
you hate to throw it into the water, but, say, when 
those gold and silver sides start flashing down in 
the watery recesses it takes a mighty tame game 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 251 

fish to lie still and let it go revolving past without 
said game fish taking a walloping crack at it. And, 
believe me, the way the musky go for that shining- 
spoon makes your teeth rattle to think of it. I have 
one Lowe-Star Spoon, a No. i-o, that is completely 
bent double from the hammering crack of a big old 
musky; he sure must have been most highly in- 
terested In that little old spoon to smash it like that. 
This spoon was a silver and gold on one side, and 
red enameled concave side with a feathered trebled 
hook trailing along behind, partly red and white 
feathers with a dash of peacock. It just made the 
pike and musky stand right up on their toes to 
get a chance at it, and this size and style is worth a 
place in any tackle-box. For bass-casting the silver 
and gold spoon of smaller size made an attractive 
lure used with minnows and pork-rind. These 
spoons are made strong and of good material, and 
they stand the rough work of trolling in snaggy and 
weedy waters. For the pike family — the musky, 
pike, and pickerel — they stand right out like a 
house afire and they get the fish. 

HILDEBRANDT SPINNERS 

HiLDEBRANDT Spinners. — ^^Made by the John J. 
Hildebrandt Co., Logansport, Ind. As soon as a 
fellow talks of spinners In the fishing game, he just 
naturally thinks of Hildebrandt. These spinners of 



252 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the famous Slim Eli, Standard and Idaho shapes 
have a name for spinning and sending a flashing in- 
vitation to the game fins that is irresistible to these 
husky tailkickers. I have used many of these spin- 
ners, both the singles and tandems and they have 
always merrily spun through the water, free and 
easy which is just what they are intended to do. A 
number of years ago I had the pleasure of meeting 
the originator of this line of spinning lures, John J. 
Hildebrand't, now passed to the Great Master of all 
waters. He was a keen angler, a true sportsman 
and a fine gentleman and his work on devising light- 
weight spinners for fly-fishing for bass as well as 
bait-casting for these bronze-backed warriors has 
been of great value to the fishing clan. These spin- 
ners are hand made and made right, just as good 
now and with as much care as when " Old John " 
Hildebrandt used to turn them out himself. The 
reversible hinge allows the spoon to reverse when 
playing a fish so that there will be no interference 
from weeds and rushes in retarding the playing of 
the fish. The Slim Eli style spinners spin very close 
to the shaft, the Standard style spins medium close 
and Idaho spins wide. I find the Standard shape 
best for ordinary fishing, the Idaho for roily waters 
and the Slim Eli for clear and fine waters. The 
tandem standard 3 size spinners is a great bass cast- 
ing-bait and for the very bright day the black Slim 
Eli #3 1/2 is a crackerjack. Taken right through 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 253 

the deck, the entire line of Hildebrandt spinners are 
right in material and workmanship as well as being 
great game fish attractors. 

TUTTLE'S DEVIL BUG 

Tuttle's Devil Bug. — Made by O. C. Tuttle, 
Old Forge, N. Y. Along comes Tuttle with a little 
old bass bug that he has been hogging all to him- 
self and a few friends for a few seasons and believe 
me it is a great little lure. It is made of hair in the 
natural colors, browns, grey and white, and what Tt 
looks like to the bass and trout I do not know but 
It looks more like a mouse than anything else or a 
large doodle bug whatever that is. The loose hairs 
on the back and the bunched tail have a lively move 
in the water and the game fish simply cannot let it 
get away from them. It is tied on a single hook 
and snelled with a good strong gut. For night-fish- 
ing it is a winner, it certainly gets the fish. Not only 
in casting is it good dope but in trolling it shines. 
Blow a little dry-fly oil on one of these Devil Bugs 
and let It float down around the boulder into the 
quiet spot behind and the rise you get will nearly 
throw you off your feet. I have one of these bugs 
that took 203 bass and 17 trout, the largest bass a 
4 3/4 pounder and the largest speckled beauty an 
even two pounder. Made in a larger size this bug 
ought to interest the musky and I am going to have 



254 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Tuttle tie one for try-out on that big ruffian of the 
underwater. The whites and greys in the smaller 
sizes make good trout lures, they have extended 
hair wings that give them the appearance of a white 
miller. These bugs are made strong and solid be- 
ing wrapped with fine wire and will hold up for 
many a cast, in fact they are practically indestruc- 
tible. A good lure, made right and of good ma- 
terial all the way through. 

THE "RAINBOW" REEL 

The " Rainbow " Reel.— Made by A. F. 
Meisselbach Mfg. Co., 26 Prospect St., Newark, 
N. J. The newest fly reel, the Rainbow, is a good- 
looking black baby, and during the opening days of 
the trouting season made good with me with a wal- 
lop. This reel is light and at the same time strong, 
and, although the reel weighs but 3 1/4 ounces, it is 
durable and of rigid construction. It is built to stand 
rough usage and it will stand up under any amount 
of hard working. The bearings are of phosphor 
bronze, and although the reel is small in general, 
just fitting snugly into the hand, the straight walls, 
which are only slightly narrower than the frame it- 
self, will accommodate 35 yards of enameled line 
with ease. For compactness it is to be given credit. 
It is a perfectly balanced reel, winds lightly and 
rapidly, and it runs very smoothly and true under 



These artificial minnows are classed with the "little fellers" not 
because they interest the little fish, but because they follow the new 
departure in the plug line of making smaller lures which are lighter 
to cast than the ordinary bass sized plugs. Musky up to 38 pounds 
have been caught with the plugs shown here, as well as many large 
pike and bass. Incidently the smaller plugs make a rattling good 
casting lure for the stream raised small-mouth bass. 

No. 1 is a Hanson's Irresistible Minnow; No. 2 is a Bite-Em- 
Bate; No. 3 a Rush Tango Jr.; No. 4 a Liar Convertible Minnow; 
No. 5 a Baby Creek Chub Wiggler; No. 6 a Baby Crab Wiggler; 
No. 7 a Jim Dandy Bait; No. 8 a Tango Midget; No. 9 a Jamison 
Struggling Mouse; No. 10 a Getsem Bait; No. 11 a Schoonie's Skooter 
minnow. 

The little fellows are mighty interesting lures to the game fish, 
are Hght to cast and they wiggle and dart into the affections of the 
sophisticated game fish with ease. * 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 255 

all conditions and angles. A feature of value is the 
ease with which the reel can be taken apart for oiling 
and cleaning. You just press the " takeapart " 
slide and the reel comes apart in two pieces without 
any loose screws, springs, or " thingamajigs " to get 
lost, or later to be put in the wrong way. For qual- 
ity, strength, and high value the " Rainbow " is to 
be commended, and the simplicity of its make-up 
adds to the general all-round worth of the reel. 
With the name " Meisselbach " behind it, with the 
big reputation of the famous *' Takapart " pre- 
ceding it, the " Rainbow " starts out with a cleancut 
record that it will live up to in every way. 

"TAKAPART" REEL 

" Takapart " Reel. — Made by A. F. Meissel- 
bach Mfg. Co., 26 Prospect St., Newark, N. J. 
Way back in the dim and dusty past, when Hector 
was a pup and I, myself, a bit of a kid, I hit the mid- 
west fishing country on a visit. Up to this time I 
had followed the streams with fly and live bait, but 
out around the lakes of Michigan and Wisconsin the 
bait-casting stunt with the short rod was quite the 
thing. I dropped into a tackle store, with a very 
small bank roll and a desire to get a good short 
rod and quadruple-multiplying reel at a low cost 
for learning this game. The salesman was honest 
and a good fellow. I thank him to this day that he 



256 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

sold me a Takapart reel. I still have it in my outfit 
and it is a veteran of many battles with the game fish 
family. It is a trifle scarred and bumped, but it 
still runs with freedom and balance. It is as good a 
tool to-day as it was the first time I met a back- 
lash in the bait-casting sport. The frame of this 
reel is made out of one piece of tubular metal, there 
is nothing to work loose, the spool is of German 
silver. It has a solid steel shaft and the pivots are 
turned right on the shaft and they fit into bronzed 
bushings in the end plates. The hardened gears 
run fine and true and my old reel shows no wear 
on gears or bearings from many years' constant use. 
The adjustable screw bearing cap on the off end plate 
can be used to regulate the running of the spool. 
After a fellow gets a bit used to casting he can loosen 
the bearing cap a little and the spool moves more 
freely and his cast will be improved in distance and 
accuracy. This reel comes in the free spool model 
also. It is the simplest reel to take apart in the 
whole game and you cannot help getting it back to- 
gether the right way. Not a screw to turn and you 
cannot throw it out of adjustment when you put it 
together again. For a real low-price reel that is 
100% worker and one that will stay right, you will 
have to travel some to find one better in value than 
the Takapart. It is a remarkable reel and more re- 
markable is the low price at which it is sold. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 257 

RUSH'S TANGO.MIDGET SURFACE BAIT 

Rush's Tango Midget Surface Bait. — Made 
by the U. S. Specialty Co., Syracuse, N. Y. Carry- 
ing the same old familiar crawling, swimming mo- 
tion of the minnow, with the darts and dives of the 
regular Tango Minnow, the Tango Midget comes 
along in a small size that Is going to put It right up 
In front as a lure. This little fellow is a wonder 
and a sure-fire fish getter. It is great for large- 
mouth and as a small-mouth bass lure of the artificial 
plug line It is a winner. I found It a fine casting 
plug for river use for small-mouth, even better than 
the Tango Jr. which Is a good bait for that tribe. 
You can get this bait either with one trebled hook 
or with a single hook that rides point up and this 
last one Is weedless. I prefer the single hook and 
did not lose a strike with it. I have never found 
a wooden plug that was finished any better than the 
Tango, the enameling Is exceptional and it stands up 
well under all kinds of casting. This bait is Ideal 
for shallow water casting and It makes quite a wake 
In Its travels through the water. It is a great little 
fish attractor and It's a hundred to one shot that It 
will be more of a success than its predecessors in the 
Tango family by which It will be seen that It will 
have to go some. 



258 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

PFLUEGER GOLDEN WEST FLY-CASTING 

REEL 

Pflueger Golden West Fly-Casting Reel. — 
Made by The Enterprise Mfg. Co., Akron, Ohio. 
The Golden West reel is a tool to be proud of. 
It is a fine reel of high quality and beautiful in ap- 
pearance. It shows by every earmark of skillful 
workmanship, that it was designed for strength, style 
and for practical use. It is of excellent balance and 
action and an angler should be highly pleased to 
have one in his outfit. The end plates are of hard 
rubber, two to each end and between these rubber 
plates is one of aluminum, which makes for strength 
and lightness. The crank is flush with the end plate 
and the handle is so shaped to make it impossible 
to catch the slack line, in fact the oil cup, crank 
balancing weight, and click button are all shaped to 
avoid snagging the line, this rounded shape of the 
parts that generally catch the line, instead, throwing 
off the line if it should happen to circle any of them. 
A good point about the reel is the click which is so 
adjusted as to take a strong pull when the line runs 
out and very light resistance when reeling in. The 
click spring, click tongue, ratchet and pivots are of 
steel. The countersinking of the screws holding the 
cross bars adds to the appearance of the reel. The 
Golden West fly reel well may be called an aristo- 
crat of the fly reel family and it certainly looks and 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 259 

acts the part. It is a high class tool in workman- 
ship and material and it runs true to form. For the 
fellow who wants a fly reel to show up well with a 
fine fly rod, and do good Avork at the same time, the 
Golden West is the reel he is looking for. 

PFLUEGER LUMINOUS-TANDEM 
SPINNERS 

Pflueger Luminous-Tandem Spinner. — 
Made by the Enterprise Mfg. Co., Akron, Ohio. I 
believe there is hardly a fisherman who has been at 
the game any length of time who has not used a 
Pflueger Luminous-Tandem Spinner. Very few 
tackle-boxes are to be found that do not have this kill- 
ing lure included in the layout of baits and once you 
use it, fellow, you take 'em along on every trip after 
the bass, musky, pickerel and pike, while the wise ones 
who go after rainbow trout early in the season when 
the fly plays a slow game take the smaller size for 
these kickers. I have particularly found the Lumi- 
nous-Tandem very effective in the warm weather 
when the bass are down deep and hard to make hit 
the artificial. Then I cast well over the pools and 
let the Luminous-Tandem sink down where the bass 
are, reeling in slowly. Used this way when it is hot, 
it gets the bass. On a cloudy or dark day this bait is 
excellent and trolling in deep water or when the 
surface is broken by the wind it makes good with a 



26o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

walloping strike. The larger sizes make a fine 
trolling bait for musky, pike and pickerel, they ride 
deep enough to go half way to these low lying ras- 
cals and using them off the edges of the weed beds 
and over the sunken islands and rocks beds usually 
brings good results. For the evening and night-fish- 
ing they are very attractive, the luminous sides flash- 
ing an inviting call for a fight from the game ones. 
And the way the big ones strike it shows that it 
makes them fighting mad. Of course, you must ex- 
pose the spinner to daylight in order to have the 
luminous part shine well at night. The fact that the 
spinners revolve in opposite directions, I believe, 
helps a lot to make this lure attractive to the fish as 
the broken light shafts caused by the alternating 
turns of the spinners no doubt gives a distinctive 
flash under the water that the fish notice more than 
an even flashing light. In material and workman- 
ship they are right all the way through. 

PFLUEGER-AVALON SALT WATER 
REEL 

Pflueger-Avalon Salt Water Reel. — Made 
by the Enterprise Mfg. Co., Akron, Ohio. Here is 
as finely adjusted, cleverly made tool as you ever 
hope to play your thumb upon. I't runs so smoothly 
and evenly that you hate to have a big fish give it 
the fast spinning turn, you feel like putting it in a 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 261 

glass case and making the saalams to it every day 
for luck. But after you have used it a few times 
and held the high jumping " silver king," the tarpon, 
and halted the speedy run of the king fish and bar- 
racuda or brought the amber jack to gaff with it you 
know then, old-timer, that besides looking like a 
thoroughbred of reels it also is a thoroughbred of 
the reel family. It is made of German silver, satin 
finish, with hard rubber and discs interleaved with 
German silver and the one piece cast cross plates 
with extension shoulders which pass through both 
the front and back plates prevent any shearing off 
of the cross plate screws as well as other troubles 
due to old style construction. It has generated 
spiral tooth phosphor bronze gears and the bearings 
are phosphor bronze bushed. The Pflueger-Will- 
iams drag handle on this reel can be adjusted to 
any tension desired while playing the fish and this 
drag handle is so attached that it cannot work loose 
or drop off. On the edge of the front plate is 
a mighty fine attachment; this is a button by which 
the adjustable drag handle stop can be operated 
without running any chances of the fast revolving 
drag handle injuring the fingers or hand, and if you 
have ever tried to beat a reel handle to it for speed 
with a big fish on the business end of the line you 
know the value of this button off where it is. The 
Pflueger-Avalon is made in eight sizes carrying from 
150 up to 500 yards of line and is adaptable for all 



262 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

kinds of salt water fishing. The record tarpon 
landed, a 215 pounder caught September, 19 16, at 
Coden, Ala., by W. G. Oliver of Birmingham, was 
landed on a Pflueger-Avalon reel and this same reel 
had played over a hundred large tarpon that season 
and ran just as smoothly and fine as when new. 
This is a reel that you will not only be proud of but 
one that you will find efficient in every way a reel 
should be. Made right and of selected materials, 
with the regular Pflueger-Bull-dog guarantee behind 
it, means the highest quality in an article and that 
the Pflueger people are backing their goods to be 
satisfactory to you. 

KINGFISHER LINES 

Kingfisher Lines. — Made by E. J. Martin's 
Sons, Rockville, Conn. The line is a very import- 
ant part of the tackle lay-out and when a fellow 
starts for the fishing waters he wants to go with his 
mind at ease that every part of the kit is right and 
ready to do its share in holding and landing the big 
ones he always expects to connect up with. When 
it comes to the lines and you make a selection of this 
important piece of kit and they are Kingfisher lines 
you can rest assured that you have goods that will 
stand up for just a bit more than is claimed for 
them. That is one reason why Kingfisher lines 
have the big following among all classes of anglers. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 263 

They deliver the goods every time. They are made 
right and of the best kind of raw materials and each 
line is tested and given a close inspection before it 
is allowed to go on to do its work for the fisher- 
man. For many, many years, Kingfisher lines have 
been adding to their reputation by the class and 
style of the different lines turned out. Kingfisher 
on the line spool means the best that can be put into 
the line, the best in labor and material and they are 
back of every line they turn out, willing to make 
good any defective line that may accidentally get by 
the rigid inspection at the factory. I have used 
many yards of Kingfisher line, many yards of other 
lines and I have yet to find a Kingfisher line that did 
not satisfy. Naturally, Kingfisher is not the only 
good line on the market, but it is a leader among 
leaders and it is there with the quality when you 
need it and that is when you have an old " he-whop " 
on the hook end and a bunch of nervous jumps on 
the butt end. It holds the fish — what more could 
be expected of a line besides the fact that it wears 
well and with a bit of care will last a long time. 

PALMER CORK BODY FLOATING 
GRASSHOPPER 

Palmer Cork Body Floating Grasshopper. — 
Made by M. Palmer, 991-Summit Ave., Pasadena, 
Cal. Boys, when you look at this grasshopper, ev- 



264 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

ery instinct in you yelps right out that it is a cracking 
good lure — and when you 'try it out on a stream 
with just a little bit of a kick to it you then and 
there know that your first impulse was correct be- 
cause, if there are any old " he-whop " bass, trout, be 
it brook, rainbow or brown, hanging around within 
sighting distance of that floating little hopper, there 
will be a crack like the snap of a mule skinner's 
snake whip as the game fin makes his dashing drive 
for what he thinks is the succulent body of a real 
live hopper. They take 'em just that way and the 
fight of a bass taking a hopper from the surface is 
a fight to remember and recount with spirit during 
the winter months. And for looks, why you can't 
blame even a wise old grandaddy tailkicker, for 
being fooled, it is just plum natural like. Just or- 
dinary cork body, natural color with two wings of 
what seem to be sparrow feathers and legs, but it is 
tied so blamed natural like that you know you have 
a real bait before you even hit the water trails. 
Last September while fishing a bit of stream-waters 
I had two of these hoppers along and my two pals, 
after my first day with them, lost their gentlemanly 
feelings and dropped so low as to horn these self- 
same hoppers out of my tackle-box while I made the 
evening chow. They had me two to one and said 
I was trying to hog the game. Any bait that makes 
a tackle-swiping villain out of a perfect gentleman 
in one day's fishing has gotta be some bait. The 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 265 

workmanship is good, the bait is right and here's 
hoping Palmer hves to tie many of them. 

PECKINPAUGH NIGHT BUG AND 
BUCKTAIL SHINER 

Peckinpaugh Night Bug and Bucktail 
Shiner. — Made by E. H. Peckinpaugh, 2105 East 
14th St., Chattanooga, Tenn. My first use of 
the Night Bugs made by '* Peck " down Tennessee 
way was at the tail end of last season and they sure 
were good lures for bass, the luminous bodies show- 
ing up strong to the bass and making a hit with them. 
Now Peckinpaugh has improved them to the extent 
of darkening the bodies and only making the heads 
luminous and the erect wings of these bugs ride a bit 
of water like a live moth or miller, and with a little 
help in the way of a twitch to the fly rod you cer- 
tainly can make 'em appear alive. I found the yel- 
low winged bug quite an attractive fly for the late 
afternoon fishing at the tail end of the season espe- 
cially when the yellow butterflies were strong on the 
wing, and the brown winged moth appearing bug 
with the streaming hair tail about the best for the 
night-fishing. At the opening of the present trout 
season the Bucktail Shiner was quite effective for 
trout on the Pike River in Northern Wisconsin and 
the white bucktail with the red feather streamers in 
the shape of a tail made the trout strike with an 



266 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

awful lot of steam. These bugs and shiners are 
well made and strong and the bugs have good bal- 
ance on the water which makes a bug more effective. 
The small-sized shiner tied on a number eight hook 
is quite good for smaller trout but for the big man's 
sized rainbow the larger shiner was very attractive. 

REINFORCED SILK-WOUND DE LUXE 
STEEL FISHING RODS 

Reinforced Silk-Wound De Luxe Steel 
Fishing Rods. — Made by W. H. Tallett, Water- 
town, N. Y. The silk-wound bait-caster certainly 
stands out as a " prince " of steel rods. Working a 
few bass right in the middle of weed beds, I der- 
ricked and pumped them in an effort to spring or 
break the rod — giving it a series of rough work- 
outs that was a shame to any self-respecting rod and 
fisherman. The rod came back without any evi- 
dence of the extra strains and pulls to which it was 
subjected. It stood the rough stuff like a regular 
soldier and the silk winding in my opinion adds a 
hundred per cent to the value of the steel rod. It 
slows the action and cuts out the excess flexibility of 
the steel, reducing the whip and feel to the same 
speed and swing of the split-bamboo. I found the 
rod to be water-proof, and after being under water 
for four hours noticed no bad effects from the water. 
The patented multiple reinforcement at the joints 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 267 

where extra strain comes on a rod gives added 
strength at this point and adds greatly to the entire 
strength of the rod, as any rod is only as strong as 
its weakest point. I found this style of a steel rod 
so much to my liking that I sent Mr. Tallett an old 
steel fly-rod and a pet bait-caster to have them 
wound with silk, as he makes a specialty of taking 
any old steel rod and winding it all the way with 
silk. To the fellow who has side-stepped the steel 
rod in the fishing game, a Reinforced Silk-Wound 
De Luxe Steel Rod will show him a few things about 
steel rods that will make him sit up and wipe his 
glasses. 

OSPREY LINES 

OspREY Lines. — Made by Lou J. Epplnger 
Co., 68 East Congress St., Detroit, Mich. The 
Osprey pure Italian silk casting lines made by Lou J. 
Eppinger are mighty fine lines, they live up to every- 
thing that Lou ever said about them and then some. 
They are well made, of even weave and they have a 
lasting quality about them that makes a fellow get 
another Osprey when his old one at last is ready 
to be taken out of the casting class and relegated to 
the trolling department, and at that it's due to quite 
a bit of good work in that end. It wears well and 
has a long life as a casting line and I have never 
been disappointed in the value in casting life I ever 



268 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

got out of an Osprey line. All the way through the 
Osprey lines are good and they are worthy of a 
place in any bait caster's tackle-box. The fifteen 
and twenty pound test lines make excellent bass lines 
and the twenty-three pound test is a dinger for pike 
or musky although the thirty pound test made es- 
pecially for musky casting and not as bulky as an 
ordinary line of that test is the real stuff in the musky 
game. The Osprey lines are a good line with full 
value for the price at which they sell. 

BEETZEL REEL 

Beetzel Reel. — Made by the Redifor Rod & 
Reel Co., Warren, Ohio. There are more good 
points combined in the Beetzel reel than you would 
ever think could be tied up in one package. It's a 
pippin, this self-thumber, level-winder, free spool 
wonder; it does everything but spit on the bait and 
the beautiful thing is that it does every little thing 
well. There is a centrifugal thumber on the inside 
of the left flange of the spool which prevents over- 
running and backlashing and on the front is a line 
carrier that travels back and forth on a worm gear 
laying the line on the spool evenly, and when the 
spool is thrown into free, this carrier drops down 
and does not come in contact with the line at all as 
the cast is made. As the line is reeled in the carrier 
flops up on the job, picks it up and lays it, smooth 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 269 

and even for the next cast. In the free spool end 
there are no levers nor plugs to manipulate; when 
you cast, the pull of the line frees the spool with the 
line touching nothing from the spool itself to the rod 
guide. The cog and pinion are in mesh at all times, 
whether spool is free or in gear. That is due to 
the make of the pinion gear which slides lengthwise 
on the axle, therefore you cannot strip the gears. 
The Beetzel is exceptionally strong and durable and 
built on the old-line pattern of the famous quad- 
ruple-multipliers. The Beetzel is built right, the 
materials used are of the best and it does what is 
claimed for it; it is a level-winding, anti-backlash, free 
spool reel; and the only trouble being that they are 
hard to get, as the Redifor people have never yet 
caught up with the orders, and one reason for this 
is that it gets a lot of extra hand work and testing 
before they will let you have it. 

BABE-ORENO AND MIDGET SURF-ORENO 

South Bend Babe-Oreno and Midget Surf- 
Oreno. — Made by the South Bend Bait Co., South 
Bend, Ind. Here are two small winners in the plug 
line, they have just as much kick and wiggle in the 
water as their famous parents, the Bass-Oreno and 
the Surf-Oreno and believe me, they have a bit of 
work cut out for them to surpass the records of 
these two good ones. To their advantage is the 



270 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

size, they are both small fellows and I found the 
Babe-Oreno especially attractive as a live casting 
plug for small-mouth bass. For early spring, late 
fall and early in the morning fishing in mid season, 
the little Midget Surf-Oreno is a fine lure, it kicks 
up quite a stir in the water and it attracts the game 
fins. For surface fishing it is a crackerjack and you 
get very few short strikes with it. The Babe-Oreno 
is a good semi-surface plug and it goes deep in the 
water with the famous darts and dives of the old 
man Bass-Oreno, the faster you reel it the deeper it 
goes. I know of a double play made last season 
with the Bass-Oreno, two bass on one cast, an 8 1/2 
pounder and a 3 pounder, which is some fishing and 
especially if you consider that they were caught in 
a very civilized lake. That's the kind of a wiggle 
the Babe-Oreno inherits from his pater and It sure 
seems to be the move that attracts the old he-whops. 
As with the other South Bend plugs, the workman- 
ship Is good and the enamel strong and free from 
cracks and they will stand some mighty rough hand- 
ling without cracking. These two little fellers 
should be in the tackle-box and to the fellow who has 
never used any of the real small plugs he is due for 
a surprise when he tries them out. For the light 
tackle angler they will be found fine casting plugs 
for the light rod and they whip out in great shape. 
The small lures are meeting more popular because 
they are great little fish getters. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 271 

" BEEN THERE BAIT CASTING HOOK " 

" Been There Bait Casting Hook." — Made 
by -the Becker-Sheward Mfg. Co., Council Bluffs, 
Iowa. The " Been There " Is a weedless, snag- 
proof hook and when you can say that for a hook 
and mean It you are saying something. I cast one 
of these hooks repeatedly into thick lily pads and 
underwater weed growths, baited with frogs and 
minnows, and they came through clean and brought 
out the bass. The most of the time you have to go 
right into the weeds for your bass and with this little 
old caster you sure can shoot It in without hooking 
a raft of weeds. The " Been There " is a tandem 
affair, the forward hook is a hand-made Sproat and 
the twin hooks In the rear which straddle the bait 
are hand-made Snecks. There Is an easy working 
spinner on the shank of the forward hook and It is 
close up to the points, which Is the logical place for 
it, while the rear hooks are weighted underneath, 
which keeps the frog or minnow upright. I found 
the use of the forward hook fine with pork-rind, 
s'imply detaching the rear hooks which are linked on 
to the forward hook. This linked chain also came 
in handy to shorten up the hooks for smaller-sized 
baits. This is an all-round good hook and can be 
secured with or without a spinner. I prefer It with 
a spinner and think It makes It more effective. 



272 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

THE BOOSTER BAIT AND THE PRO- 
DUCER WEEDLESS HOOK 

The Booster Bait and the Producer Weed- 
less Hook. — Made by J. G. Henzel, 13 13 South 
Fairfield Avenue, Chicago, 111. I first met the 
Booster Bait in a funny way. I was fishing a very 
*' civilized " bit of water one afternoon without 
much luck, when a fisherman rowed past with a fair 
string. I coaxed the info out of him as to his bait 
and he slipped me one. It looked like a miniature 
pincushion with a red top and a white belly and short 
wings on the sides, of yellow with tails of orange. 
Taking another turn around the weedbeds late that 
afternoon I landed a few nice ones on this Booster 
affair, which sure boosted my average that day. 
The colors of the bait are attractive and the maker 
says the taste and smell also attracts the fish, al- 
though of the latter statement I cannot verify, as in 
casting I do not think the fish take time enough to 
smell or taste what they strike. However, I do 
know that this bait is a good one and I use it quite 
frequently and always with good results. I find that 
it works well with the Henzel Weedless Producer 
hook. This hook is equipped with a swivel and a 
No. 3 spoon and a looped piano-wire weed guard, 
a'nd the No. 5-0 Kendall Sneck size is a good bass 
and pike size. The Booster takes the place of 
natural bait and brings in the bacon, and can be used 
with any kind of a hook, either spooned or plain. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 273 

SCHOONIE'S SKOOTER BAIT 

Schoonie's Skooter Bait. — Made by J. R. 
Schoonmaker, 945-Walwood Place, Kalamazoo, 
Mich. Here is a bait that comes so close to actually 
swimming like a real live minnow that it sure fooled 
some big bass and pike to give it the once over to 
their sorrow. It has an easy smooth gliding move- 
ment from side to side, natural and life-like and if 
you give it a short jerk, or switch the rod a bit the 
Skooter shoots to one side like a minnow darting 
when you frighten it. Reeling in the Skooter slowly 
makes it swim like a minnow on its way to nowhere 
in particular and a little faster on the reel puts a 
kick into the movement as if the bait were swim- 
ming in a darting glide out of danger. I like the 
Junior size particularly as it is smaller and weighs 
but 5/8 of an ounce and makes a fair-sized plug for 
the casting rod. All the way around the bait is 
right in workmanship and materials and it stands 
up under mighty rough casting. I gave it a bit of 
tossing among the rocks and windfalls as well as the 
shore bowlders and outside of a few expected nicks 
and scars this rough work did not injure it at all. 
The Skooter is a good bait, it gets the fish and I 
blame it entirely on the movement it has in the 
water. When at rest the bait is a floater, when 
moving it glides just below the surface and it sure 
glides. 



274 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

KING MINNOW NET 

King Minnow Net. — Made by the W. H. 
Reisner Mfg. Co., Hagerstown, Md. How to get 
minnows for bait with the least amount of trouble 
is solved by the use of the King Minnow Net. This 
net is a strongly built piece of kit and will stand up 
under the usually indifferent handling of a net. It 
is of the folding style and packs into a very small 
space, which makes it convenient to carry. It is 
built on the style of an umbrella in the framework, 
with the net at the ends of the ribs. A great way to 
use this net, and always have a supply of minnows 
at no trouble at all, is to tie a stout twine to the 
ring of the net and sink it on the bottom of the lake 
or stream where the minnows are, then tie a small 
log or piece of two by four to the other end of the 
twine for a float. Drop a bit of oatmeal into the 
net and leave it there a day or so, to attract the min- 
nows and shiners to the feeding-ground, and you can 
raise your King net any time and supply the bait 
pail. This net surely is a time-saver and a right 
good thing. 

McCORMIC MERMAID BAIT 

McCoRMic Mermaid Bait. — Made by the Mc- 
Cormic Bait Co., Kalamazoo, Mich. One of the 
latest new ones is the Mermaid plug and she is a 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 275 

wiggling wobbling nimble Miss. She has a side to 
side up and down motion with a few quick wiggles 
and darts like a frightened minnow. She is more 
of a surface lure than anything else, making her 
swim into the caster from an inch to about ten 
inches under water according to the speed of reel- 
ing in and when she flits along the surface she makes 
quite a lively wake which is attractive to the game 
fish. For night-fishing she is a dream and although 
armed with three triple hooks, her proclivity to 
keep well on the surface keeps her practically weed- 
less. I took some nice bass out of the lily pads 
with this bait and found that nearly every strike 
was a winner, due no doubt to the fact that the bait 
stays on top and the hooks being underneath the 
fish in nearly every cast striking from below, were 
easier to hook than had they struck from the side. 
This old girl is made of red cedar and has a coat- 
ing of celluloid enamel that stands mighty rough 
casting. The bait is good all the way through and 
the shape is a bit different which gives it the peculiar 
moves it makes in the water. It is a fish getter 
and the majority of strikes are saved which is a 
worthy record for any bait. 

CREEK CHUB WIGGLER 

Creek Chub Wiggler. — Made by the Creek 
Chub Bait Co., Garrett, Ind. For downright looks 



276 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

you simply have to doff the hat to the Creek Chub 
Wiggler. It certainly does imitate in natural color 
the real creek chub, even down to the silvery scales. 
For the game fish that is really looking for a bit of 
feed, the color scheme of the creek chub wiggler 
should make a hit, not to mention the wiggling wob- 
bling movement of the bait when reeled in through 
the water. It is life-like in looks and in motion and 
any fellow who has used the real creek chub will 
know that this bait will make a sure enough appeal 
to the big fins. It floats when not in motion and 
can be used as a surface, semi-surface and deep-wa- 
ter lure. A small metal plate in the mouth of the 
chub gives a fine bunch of wiggles and wobbles and 
by moving the plate and reversing it you have a sur- 
face splatter lure that sure kicks up a nice little dis- 
turbance in the water when reeled in fast. I found 
the natural color creek chub a good bait for bright or 
cloudy days as I have found the live creek chub in 
the past. The workmanship and material are very 
good and the plug stood up under quite a bit of 
rough handling in among the windfalls and rocks 
without being damaged, in fact it stood the gaff ex- 
ceptionally well, the enamel being a hard finish 
that does not crack or chip. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 277 

KEEP-'EM-ALIVE FISH STRINGER 

Keep ^Em Alive Fish Stringer. — Made by 
the Watkins Mfg. Co., Howell, Mich. This 
stringer does just what the name says, that is, keeps 
the catch alive until the fish are taken out of the 
water. If you have no live box at camp, you can 
tie the stringer to the dock and the fish will live for 
several days. The stringer is made up of ten sep- 
arate safety-snap hooks attached to a chain with 
a swivel, and each hook is for a fish; this keeps the 
fish from crowding and the weight is evenly distrib- 
uted. There are no projecting points to catch and 
gather weeds, and to take off a fish in the string 
means simply to unsnap the hook on which the fish 
is located. The stringer is four and a half feet 
long and additional hooks can be attached if de- 
sired. It will hold 75 pounds of fish distributed 
on the hooks, and when not in use rolls up into a 
small space and can be carried in the pocket. You 
can string a few fish in the early morning fishing, 
and take a shot at casting in the evening, and you 
are not trailing a bunch of dead fish around during 
the hot day. The Keep-'Em Alive Stringer is well 
made and it is a handy clean-cut piece of kit. 



278 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

HANSON'S IRRESISTIBLE BAIT 

Hanson's Irresistible Bait. — Made by Wm. 
B. Hanson & Co., 939 PoUmey St., Pittsburg, 
Pa. Just when you think you have seen about the 
last thing in artificial baits along comes another plug 
with some certain little groove, nick or twist that 
when you give it a tryout it develops a wonderful 
gait in the water. And that is what the Hanson Ir- 
resistible Bait has tacked up to its credit. There 
is a little projecting end of wood sticking out in 
front and on top of the bait that controls the depth 
at which the bait dives, this keeps the plug from go- 
ing down too far and scraping on the bottom look- 
ing for snags. And for motion it has one of the 
most tantalizing fishy moves as it comes reeling in 
through the water, just like a live fish with a few 
darts and dives mixed in to give it a bit of ginger 
and make it attractive to the game fish. It is fitted 
with two trebled hooks. The bait I used had large- 
sized hooks, these I reduced to smaller twin hooks 
and it made a rattling good bait. The material and 
workmanship are first class and the finish of the 
bait is attractive. Any fellow can stock this plug 
in his tackle-box and feel that he is carrying a bait 
that will help him get his share of the big fellows. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 279 

OLT'S O. K/ SPINNERS 

Olt's O. K. Spinners. — Made by Philip S. 
Olt, Pekin, 111. The Olt's spinner artificial bait is 
a bit different from any other spinner and it sure 
has an attractive movement In the water. The 
three spinner style has three V shaped hand made 
spinners swiveled together and attached to these is 
a trebled bucktall hook in the natural colors with a 
dash of red in the center. This I found an espe- 
cially attractive bait for deep-water trolling being 
a great little enticer for pike and wall-eyes. The 
fact that there are four swivels on each bait adds to 
its value as a trolling lure, there is not so much in- 
ducement for the line to kink and twist. The grad- 
uated size of the three spinners gives the lure the ap- 
pearance of a minnow or shiner in the water and 
the spinners spin well at any speed fast or slow in 
deep or shallow water. The spinners are of alum- 
inum and flash just about right in their twirling glide 
through the water. With a light dipsey sinker 
hooked on, this bait makes a fine casting lure and 
medium fast reeling gives about the best results. 
The bit bait Is handsome and well made and the 
material used is right. 



28o FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

PETERS' SPOON-SWIVELED INSECT 
BAIT 

Peter's Spoon-Swiveled Insect Baits. — 
Made by the Peters' Bait Co., Knox, Ind. Not at all 
bad is the verdict on these baits. I find particularly 
that the Grasshopper and Bee bait are mighty effec- 
tive in early morning and late evening bass-fishing, 
when the bass are feeding close in, and for stream 
casting for small-mouth these two styles were very 
good. Fish them mid-depth and also let them go 
with the current a bit. The bass fly is something 
different in flies and is all rubber, double looped red 
rubber, with a silvery head and tail of what looks 
like dentist's rubber dam; this last-named stuff tails 
out behind like a pork-rind and has a yellowish- 
brown tint, but it's the nervous floppy wiggle in the 
water that I blame for interesting the game fins. 
There is a barrel swivel fore and aft of the spoon 
which is just the right size for bass work. I, how- 
ever, changed the split rings from the No. 12 to a 
No. 15, and found that the smaller size met my per- 
sonal taste better than the larger rings. This bait 
is for use " as is " and requires no live or natural 
bait to help it along. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 281 

SCHILLING'S LUCKY ANGLE SWIVEL 
SPREADER 

Schilling's Lucky Angle Swivel Spreader. 
— Made by Henry A. Schilling, 1722 Harman 
St., Brooklyn, N. Y. This lucky angle swivel is of 
more value to the salt water fisherman in tidal wa- 
ters than to the freshwater tribe although I gave 
it a tryout through a nice piece of pike water with 
spoon on each bait end and trolling along at an 
easy moving speed hooked a four pound pike and 
the spreader took a direct pull at once, owing to the 
bend made in the small connecting length and it 
worked well until the pike was brought to net. A 
little later in the evening we hooked two pike at the 
same time and the game sure was interesting, each 
pike seemed to have picked out a different spot on 
the bottom to which he was trying to speed in an 
effort to rub out the stinging hook, and they cer- 
tainly cut up a wonderful commotion as they were 
worked up close to the boat. This was the first time 
that I had ever hooked two fair-sized pike on the 
same line at the same time and they made quite a 
fight in their fright, probably one scared the other. 
And the " lucky angle " worked right all the time. 
A slight pull on either end of the angle immediately 
throws it into a straight line and there is no strain 
on the angle that subjects it to breakage. For still 
fishing if you want to use two baits It Is a handy ar- 



282 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

rangement and in fishing a deep spring hole in forty 
feet of water in a Wisconsin lake a number of times 
we hooked the second bass as the first one was run- 
ning away with the minnow he had taken. In troll- 
ing it prevents kinking in the line. For general 
trolling, still-fishing and general tidal fishing either 
surface or bottom as well as surf casting it is a handy 
working little piece of tackle. 

THE LIAR CONVERTIBLE MINNOW 

The Liar Convertible Minnow. — Made by 
the Dickens Bait Co., Fort Wayne, Ind. The Liar 
bait is another of the wobbling, wiggling wooden 
plugs that delight the bait-caster and although it is 
not startling in shape or color it has a motion in 
the water that attracts the striking game fish. It is 
a floater, of course, and can be used as a surface bait 
at which time it has a peculiar skipping movement 
that makes it attract the fish. If you have to go 
down deeper for them it is a simple matter to slip 
the body hook out, put it in again on the other side 
and you have an underwater lure that darts and wig- 
gles into the affections of the game fins when they 
are down below and in this swim through the water 
it kicks along on no set route but works on an erratic 
course that gives it the appearance of a swimming, 
darting minnow. Working it slowly through the 
water seems to give it the most attractive motion. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 283 

It comes in black as well as other colors and the 
black lure should make good — I have found this 
color very effective, both on a bright day and on a 
light moonlight night. The bait is well made and 
serviceable and the enameling stood up well under 
the rough tossing I have given it. I found the 
black liar very good for pike and the white with red 
head very good for surface casting for bass. This 
new entry into the plug family is a worth-while lure 
and it is a fish getter. 

REF'S BASS BUGS 

Ref's Bass Bugs. — Made by C. C. Refner, 8 
South Dearborn St., Chicago, 111. Ref's Bass Bugs 
are well made, solidly tied and neat and they get the 
fish. They are tied along eighteen standardized 
patterns, not the standard patterns of the oldtime 
fly but new in name and style and among the whole 
lot I have found the Carter Harrison, Clarke's 
Fancy, Zane Grey, Feet's Favorite and Wilder's 
Discovery mighty good for the stream-raised small- 
mouth. Many of the other patterns are no doubt 
equally as effective, but the fact that I was getting 
plenty of strikes with the ones above sort of kept 
me from changing to the others. These bugs are 
along the modern line of the floater, the body is of 
cork, the wings and streaming tails are well set and 
the hook will not twist around. For stream fishing 



284 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

or small-mouth bass they are excellent and I have 
had pike and wall-eye take them. They are easy to 
cast and ride top-up, on the water. What made 'em 
look good to me was the long streaming hair tails 
and also hair wings on some of them and say, boy, 
I wasn't fooled a bit on that hair stuff, but the bass 
were, they thought it was something to eat. The 
active wiggle of the hair makes these bugs seem 
alive as they come through the water. The fly-fish- 
erman is certainly missing something in the game if 
he does not carry a few of these bugs in his outfit. 

WYMAN HAIR FLIES 

Wyman Hair Flies. — Designed and tied by 
Edward Wyman, 4456 Sidney Ave., Chicago, 111. 
These flies are sure great killers, the combination 
of hair and feathers make a lure that certainly at- 
tracts the bass, pike and musky; in fact they are so 
deadly that a fellow should not use one of them un- 
less he is sportsman enough to be satisfied with a 
few fish and is willing to throw back uninjured the 
rest of the game fins he is sure to attract with these 
flies. It must be the active movement of the hairs 
that makes them so interesting to the game fish. 
The new bait-casting flies can be used with the short 
casting rod and with a small spinner, say a number 
three size, they are a wonder for bass. And these 
flies are made so durable that they stand up under 



The bait casting reel is a very important end of the bait caster's 
tackle. Much depends upon its smooth running qualities. I believe 
the angler who goes after the game fish casting the plug, minnow, 
fro^ or pork strip with the short rod should always select as good a 
reel as he can possibly afiford, even to the point of cutting down a bit 
somewhere else. 

Illustration number one is the Shakespeare level-winding reel, a 
mighty fine running tool. The line carrier that works across the front 
of the reel lays the line evenly and assists in making the next cast 
jlean and true. 

Illustration number two, is a Meek No. 3 reel, one of the famous 
Kentucky style reels that assisted in making that fair state as famous 
as did the blooded horses and bluegrass. This reel after nine years' 
use runs as fine and true as the day I fell heir to it. 

Illustration number three is another famous Kentucky reel, the 
Milam, made by one of the earliest reel making families of that state. 
This Milam is as clean a cut tool as you will find in many a day's 
travel and it makes casting a pleasure to the user. 

Illustration number four is the famous Meisselbach "Takapart," 
a low priced reel that is worth a lot more than it sells for. This reel 
is a great tool, it casts free and easy, runs smoothly and will stand 
more rough usage than the law allows and you can take it apart bj^ 
simply unscrewing the end plates. I have a twelve year old "Taka- 
part" that is still a mighty good reel and countless fellows have 
learned casting with it. 



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FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 285 

unheard of usage. I know of two flies that landed 
over three hundred bass and they are still In good 
enough shape to be used for some time. These are 
the hair flies about which I wrote in the October and 
November 19 17 issues of the National Sportsman 
and the new bait-casting flies are equally as effective 
and well made as those about which I wrote at that 
time. Last season the largest musky on record for 
that season was caught with one of these flies used 
with a spoon. The workmanship is of the best and 
the materials are A-i. They will stand the gaff of 
unlimited casting and attract the fish, all a fellow has 
to do Is handle the rod, enough skill to land 'em, 
and you will get the fish with the wiggling hair fly. 

SHAKESPEARE LEVEL WINDING 
REELS 

Shakespeare Level Winding Reels. — Made 
by the Shakespeare Company, Kalamazoo, Mich. 
The Shakespeare level winding reels from the low 
priced " Superior " up to the higher priced " Pro- 
fessional " are well made tools and they work well 
In action on the water. They are simple, practical 
and efficient. They lay the line evenly on the spool 
and make for accuracy in casting, reducing the line 
troubles to a minimum. With one of these reels 
you do not have to watch your spooling of the line, 
nor tire the fingers by gripping the rod above the 



286 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

reel and guiding the line onto the spool. The even 
laying of the line on the spool by this level winding 
reel makes backlashing a hard thing to accoimplish 
if you keep the thumb on the reel spool in making 
the cast and the level laid line makes thumbing the 
outgoing line an easy job. The thumb just natur- 
ally lays right on an even wound line. The line 
carrier which is solidly built into the reel proper 
travels back and forth on a single endless screw bar, 
a gear which meshes with one on the reel handle 
and on every turn of the handle the line carrier must 
work across and back along the screw bar. This 
carrier does not cause friction and retard the cast as 
some suppose, as it moves evenly along with the line 
as it is laid on the spool and as the line pays out it 
moves in unison with the line as it comes off the 
spool. In fact this reel is an aid to accuracy and 
distance in the cast as the undivided attention can 
he given to the lure or bait in its flight. It is well 
designed and accurately made and the materials are 
excellent. It takes a lot of tiring finger work out 
of a day's fishing. For night-fishing it is a mighty 
fine tool and for playing a heavy fish, where keeping 
the eye on the game one is essential in playing and 
landing, it is ioo% efficient. Made right with ma- 
terials that are right makes it worthy of any tackle 
kit. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 287 

" Y & E " AUTOMATIC-COMBINATION 
REEL 

" Y. & E. " Automatic-Combination Reel. — 
Made by Horrocks-Ibbotson Co., Utica, N. Y. 
This is certainly a well made and finely adjusted tool 
and a reel that does quite a bit of the work in play- 
ing a game fin via the flyrod route. It sure is a 
pleasure to hook a four pound rainbow trout and 
then play him with one hand, the rod arching to a 
wonderful curve and the little finger by just the 
lightest pressure taking away the slack and holding 
the big one from making the snag as he heads in and 
down stream for a getaway. The style B size 
weighs but eleven ounces, is made of aluminum and 
balances well on a sturdy rod for the big ones. The 
bearings are tooled steel and the reelspool rides 
smoothly and works every time you wish it to; it 
never got out of kilter once while I used it on the 
Oconto River with some of the husky brown trout 
of that stream nor on the Manistee with the game 
^rainbows of that river. Some fellows object to the 
automatic reel because it gives one an advantage 
over the fish, but I like it because you are free to 
play a game fish with one hand and there is no 
chance of fowling the line while taking it away from 
the fish and you sure can keep slack out with it. For 
lake trout fishing it is a dandy and when these big 
ones start cutting up in eighty feet of water it comes 



288 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

in mighty handy, especially if you are playing them 
on a light, long rod. It is very simple to manipu- 
late and it does the work handsomely for which it is 
Intended. In trolling with it I had a wonderfully 
interesting fight with a twelve pound pike on a light 
rod. For a one handed battle it was a dinger and 
the reel acted like a thoroughbred. 

MILAM RUSTIC NO. 3 REEL 

Milam Rustic No. 3 Reel. — Made by B. C. 
Milam & Son, Frankfort, Ky. Here is a reel from 
the famous home of the reel, Kentucky, and made 
by the people who are credited with being the first 
in the field. They have been making reels so long 
that they could not help turning out a good tool, and 
the Rustic No. 3 is a mighty good one. Right at 
the start do not get the idea that the Rustic is the 
best reel the Milam outfit make, it is not, but it 
sells at a very low price and from the fine running 
free movement of this reel any angler who knows 
anything about reels realizes as soon as he uses the 
Rustic, that the same high grade workmanship and 
materials have been put into this reel as those which 
go Into the higher priced ones. The Rustic is de- 
signed along the lines of the popular bait-casters, 
a 2 inch by 2^ inch spool, that low long style which 
gives good control to the thumb. It carries 100 
yards of casting line and is strong and sturdy, light 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 289 

and well balanced and it runs very smoothly. The 
pinions and pivots being of hardened tool steel and 
the bushings of high grade bronze and the pinion 
points ride in jeweled cups. The angler who thinks 
you cannot get a good reel for bait-casting at any- 
thing under a high price needs only to try a Rustic 
to find out that he can get a very finely set reel at a 
price that won't even make him nervous. It is one 
of the smoothest running low-priced reels that I have 
ever used and it stands the grilling grind of contin- 
uous casting day after day without showing up a 
weak spot. It is a good looker and a fine caster, 
the material is high-grade and the workmanship the 
same as on the higher-priced famous reels of this 
famous family of reel makers. It is a pleasure to 
say that I have found the Rustic reel one that any 
caster can buy with the feeling that he has secured 
a tool that will prove equal and better than his ex- 
pectations. A low-priced reel and a mighty good 
one. 



-^J EVINRUDE MOTOR 

EviNRUDE Motor. — Made by the Evinrude 
Motor Co., Milwaukee, Wis. If there is any little 
old part of the outdoor kit that has shot more joy 
into the fishing game than the Evinrude out-board 
motor, I have yet to find It. And this joy stuff is 
not only due to the Evinrude because it is an out- 



290 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

board motor that can be attached to most any boat, 
but to the bit outstanding fact that It is a motor that 
takes you somewhere and gets you back again with- 
out a lot of fussing around the engine and a lot of 
little things going bad and stopping their work at 
the wrong time. The Evinrude motor is built right, 
it is built on a line that makes it far stronger than 
the ordinary requirements of the outer and that is 
one reason why it holds up like a royal flush when 
put to the test. All the way through the most mi- 
nute details of construction are given close attention, 
and good workmanship together with first-class ma- 
terials makes a motor at the finish that will deliver 
the goods and not kick out its insides doing it. I 
have kicked my Evinrude through weed beds galore, 
in among the windfalls and rocks, let every old ama- 
teur motor running fiend around my camp use it and 
it still purrs like a happy kitten when it gets the 
spark. It is fool proof and anyone can run it with- 
out the fear that it will go up in the air. It is really 
made for the amateur and everything is simplified to 
make it run right for the fellow who don't know 
much about the engine game. The automatic re- 
verse and the Evinrude " Sure-catch " Trolling At- 
tachment are great little points that make the Evin- 
rude a boon to fishermen. Taken every way the 
Evinrude is a wonderfully efficient out-board motor 
and I fully recommend it for a high-class piece of 
equipment that will deliver the goods at all times. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 291 

THEROZ MESS KIT 

Theroz Mess Kit. — Made by the Basic Prod- 
ucts Corporation, Woolworth Tower, New York 
City. Here is a downright handy, clever piece of 
outdoor equipment that has not a single error 
chalked up against it in make, material or value to 
the outer. It does everything that is claimed for it 
and does it right. I packed one of these kits over 
water and woods trails of the North woods on a re- 
cent trip and for service, value, speed in doing its 
part of the trip, it is a pleasure to give it an A-i 
credit for being right in every way. It is a mess 
kit that will make the entire meal quickly and with 
no trouble at all, it packs or rather nests into a small 
space about 3^ inches by 6>4 inches, weighs a little 
less than two pounds including a can of fuel, makes 
an easy carry for the pack or duffle bag and when it 
is rainy or cold just set it up in the tent, pour in the 
beans, soup and coffee and the whole meal cooks 
merrily in about ten minutes; while you are packing 
away this food you can fry a few strips of bacon, 
sausage or fish and the meal is over without any 
trouble at all. The fuel used is a preparation made 
from alcohol, cut into cubes, which does not go 
liquid while burning and you carry them right in the 
kit. For the quick meal it is there every way from 
the Jack and the cooking parts are large enough to 
hold enough for you and your pal at one cooking. 



292 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Made of aluminum It is strong and serviceable. Af- 
ter using this kit I knew it was right so I shipped it 
over to the kid in France feeling sure that he would 
find it invaluable In the cold old trenches In the Vos- 
ges in Alsace this winter. I feel that this kit should 
be a part of the regular issue to the boys in the 
trenches and that it would be found indispensable 
by them. 

THERMOS BOTTLES 

Thermos Bottles. — Made by the American 
Thermos Bottle Co., 35-37 West 31st St., New 
York City. To write a report on the Thermos bot- 
tle is just like writing a bunch of side-lights into 
one's life because I have used the Thermos in my 
home, in hotels, on the trail, in camp, on hunts and 
on the water and I have yet to find the time that a 
Thermos bottle was not a mighty valuable thing to 
have around. In the cool days of the fall fishing 
when the wind and spraying water, tinctured with 
the cold of the Northland, cuts and whips about you, 
there is nothing th'at can give you more pep and 
heat when you need it than a swig from the Ther- 
mos bottle, be its contents tea, coffee or your favor- 
ite beverage. Far out on the trail, along the old 
tote roads after partridge in the fall with a well 
filled Thermos, means a little warm stuff any time you 
feel like it and no trouble to have It warm, no fire 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 293 

to kindle, nothing but off with the cap and down 
with the drink. Some fellows pride themselves on 
" roughing It." I pride myself on " smoothing It " 
In the woods or on the waters and one of the great- 
est little smoothers Is the Thermos bottle. In the 
winter time, before starting on a hunt, fill a Thermos 
and leave It behind at the camp; of course you take 
another one with you, and say, pal, when you come In 
cold and wet, you can get up a good warm feehng 
by taking a bit out of the reserve bottle before you 
busy up with the camp work for the evening meal. 
In the summer It is a pleasure to have the cold drink 
from the Thermos, but for downright real service 
in the fall and winter, the heat you can sip from one 
of these bottles is really a life saver. Rig up a 
Khaki cover for the bottle and a shoulder sling and 
you have a fine piece of kit that is well worth the 
weight of toting along. Cut down somewhere else 
in the weight, but take the Thermos with you. It 
is right in every way. 

KAMPKOOK STOVE 

Kampkook Stove. — Made by the American 
Gas Machine Co., 724 Clark St., Albert Lea, Minn. 
The American Folding Kampkook Stove Is a nifty 
little stove that folds into a steel case the inside of 
which Is part of the stove, overall, about 14 Inches 
by 8^ inches by 3 Inches and the whole thing only 



294 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

weighs eight pounds. Nothing loose to get mislaid 
and lost and can be set up in working order in a 
minute. The two burners throw a powerful lot of 
heat and they burn right along no matter how hard 
the wind blows. This is sure an ideal stove for the 
camp, auto trip or canoe and it is very very -simple 
to operate and no chances of it blowing up. For 
a quick, hot bite it is a dinger and can be gotten 
going while you are thinking of gathering wood for 
a cooking fire. No loose odds and ends to screw 
together when you want to set it up, just pull off the 
lid, push down the automatic legs, pump up the air 
for the gas and set on the spider. All the way 
around this little light weight of the camp stoves is 
a good worker and it has a neat, classy look when 
tagging along on the auto. It is strong and durable 
and made for outdoor use and will stand quite a bit 
of rough handling and bad weather without falling 
down on the job when you want it. Ordinary gaso- 
line is the fuel. 

PELLETIER HAND-MADE SNOW- 
SHOES 

Pelletier Hand-Made Snow-Shoes. — Made 
by Jud Landon, Inc., Schenectady, N. Y. Three 
weeks before I received the pair of Pelletier snow- 
shoes for a tryout and test I bought two pairs for 
use at my permanent camp to replace two pairs of 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 295 

another make which had become sagged and broken. 
This makes four pairs of Pelletler snow-shoes at 
my cabin up North, which should be a fairly good 
tryout in itself. A pair of snow-shoes that will 
stand up under the rough going of burnt-over and 
slashings are right in the snow-shoe line, and two of 
these pairs have stood the gaff of rough usage for 
three years and are in good shape now. A snow- 
shoe is a part of the kit of the outdoors man that 
must be right. You depend upon it to get you way 
out and back again, and there is nothing that will 
give a fellow the " creeps " as much as a snow-shoe 
going to pieces when he is six or eight miles in the 
timber in close zero weather. That's why I say 
get a snow-shoe with a reputation behind it for high- 
quality material and workmanship; when you need 
'em, you need 'em bad. These Pelletier snow-shoes 
are not a fancy-looking affair, fact is they look al- 
most crude, but for service and high value in ma- 
terials they cannot be surpassed, as only the best 
quality stuff is used in making them. They are not 
a snow-shoe sold for decorating a den wall, but for 
keeping you going in the snow. And they have the 
proper balance which is an essential in snow-shoes 
that are right. And besides this, Jud Landon's 
guarantee is behind every pair of Pelletier snow- 
shoes absolutely against all defects, and that is worth 
a lot t9 any sportsman, 



296 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

TELESCOPE COT BED 

Telescope Cot Bed. — Made by the Telescope 
Cot Bed Co., 538 East 79th Street, New York City. 
Peg these points up for the Telescope Cot Bed, it 
is roomy, strong, serviceable, and packs into a small 
solid bundle. The Standard size which I tried out 
and which was used as emergency bed at Timber- 
edge Lodge and packed to the near-by camps on 
other lakes stood the gaff of all kinds of usage with- 
out showing up any weak spots in either frame or 
canvas parts. This Cot was dumped in the water 
in running Rainbow Rapids in the Wisconsin River 
and fished out about a mile below the rapids and 
made just as comfy a bed that night as any other 
time; the wetting did not damage any part of it nor 
swell the wooden legs. It is an all-around comfort- 
able bed and carries well. Regardless of the desire 
of some of the boys to " rough it " in the woods, 
if you sleep right, you can stand any kind of rough 
stuff and be full of pep, and sleeping in a Telescope 
Cot Bed is my idea of sleeping right in the cot line. 
This cot folds up into a bundle about 24 inches long 
by 7 inches deep with a width of 5 inches, and I 
found it very handy to roll the blankets around it 
and cover the entire bedding with a tarp. It can 
be thrown up in a minute or two and there are no 
little thingumajigs to lose or get out of order. The 
trestle-work braces take up all sag and the increased 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 297 

height from the ground makes it doubly valuable in 
cold and damp weather. It is made for wear and it 
lives up to that reputation, and, given the usual good 
care a fellow gives to his kit, it should last for many 
years. By the way, the iron is rust-proofed and you 
can get a mosquito-netting canopy that is mighty 
handy in the woods and along the water trails. 

THE RED-E FOLDING BROILER 
STOVE AND OVEN 

The Red-E Folding Broiler Stove and Oven. 
— Made by the Red-E Company, 20 East Broad St., 
Columbus, Ohio. The Red-E is certainly a stove of 
class and usefulness and with the Red-E Oven makes 
a team in the camp cooking line that sure delivers 
the goods. The stove folds into a very flat pack 
as does the oven and the two of them go into a 
khaki case that carries well in the pack sack or pack 
harness with the duffle bags. It can be set up in 
less time than you can write it. W^hy it practically 
sets itself up. With the back to the wind the smoke 
goes with the wind and you cook in peace and com- 
fort while any old sized wood feeds it. To cook 
with the Red-E is to eliminate all the dirty, smoky 
end of the game and you have plenty of pan space. 
After the coffee gets going good and the can o' veg- 
etables, slip these along one side, just touching the 
side and they stay simmering while you lay out a 



298 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

fish on the broiler and let 'er go. And by the way 
just slip a strip or two of bacon on top of your broil- 
ing fish and let some of the bacon taste work in — 
man, it's great. While I managed the broiler and 
general cooking my pal baked as fine a pan of bis- 
cuits as you will meet at home and I'll say that the 
wall-eye pike I broiled was as good as any that 
" Eddy " ever broiled down at " Pop June's Oyster 
Bay " in Indianapolis and he sure had a rep for 
broiling. And here is a point not to be overlooked. 
It folds with the smoked part in and a clean outside 
always. All the way through the Red-E outfit is 
efficient and thoroughly practical, it is welded and 
riveted, no solder, and strong, compact, easy to use. 
The stove alone is a winner, but with the oven it is 
there both ways from the Jack. 

COMFORT SLEEPING POCKET 

Comfort Sleeping Pocket. — Made by the 
Athol Mfg. Co., Athol, Mass. I like to go into 
the out-of-the-way places, to the places where the 
fellows expect to rough it, but I never rough it if I 
can possibly avoid it, and the greatest little old 
avoider to roughing it in the sleeping-bag game is 
the Comfort Sleeping Pocket. It makes you think 
of your home-town bed, and you feel just as comfy 
as could be on the air mattress of the Comfort. 
My Comfort is the feather-weight style, rolls up into 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 299 

a roll about 8x25 inches with a blanket, and weighs 
eleven pounds. I stuff this into a duffle-bag and strap 
it on the back with another duffle-bag in a pack har- 
ness, and I am ready for any kind of hiking, have a 
decent water-proof bed, light in weight, and with the 
head flap propped up at night it makes a little tent 
for any condition of weather. The outside cover- 
ing is of balloon silk, the inside of felt, and the air 
mattress keeps you away from dampness and cold. 
The fact that the Comfort has snap-buttons down 
the entire side makes it easy to air, and there is none 
of the sweating due to some of the closed sleeping- 
bags. You have a clean bed all the time and one 
easy to get into and out of on short notice. For 
sleeping in the open and where you must pack light 
the Comfort is an excellent addition to the kit, and 
it Is made of the finest material and the workman- 
ship Is of the best. You can inflate the mattress by 
lung power in a couple of minutes and there is no 
pump necessary. Every way the Comfort Is high 
quality and there is class to it from every angle of 
the sleeping game. Comfort in name and in de- 
livering the goods. 

PERFECTION CAPE 

Perfection Cape. — Made by the Athol Man- 
ufacturing Co., Athol, Mass. When I received this 
cape and even before I had taken it into the woods 



300 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

and along the stream, I knew that it was just the ar- 
ticle that many, many sportsmen had been looking 
for. It was a perfect garment and there has been 
a call for something along Its line for a long time. 
The cape is made of rubberized silk, it reaches from 
the neck to the shins and weighs but 19 ounces. It 
is made on the poncho style with a rattling good 
neck device that comes from Mexico which can be 
wrapped around the neck and snapped shut. This 
absolutely removes any chance of those little streams 
of water that trickle down your neck with the or- 
dinary cape or rain shirt, especially if you happen to 
get a good brimfull of water on your hat and bend 
back too far. It has snap buttons that open down 
both sides and arms and all the body heat goes out 
these openings, thus you are subjected to no annoy- 
ance of sweating up the inside nor is there any dis- 
comfiture from the heat. The arms are good and 
roomy, you can cast, row, cut the campfire wood, in 
fact do anything that requires active swinging move- 
ment without any binding or catching in the garment 
anywhere. It packs in a small space i ^'^ x 4'' x 8" 
and comes in a neat, nifty leather case. For the 
amount of good it does it sure packs in the smallest 
possible space and can be dropped in the packsack, 
in the pocket or creel and carried along ready for 
the rain you expect, but hope will not materialize. 
It is equally as handy for the motorist as well as the 
angler, hunter or hiker. On the way to the fishing 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 301 

country I had to change a tire and while it was rain- 
ing very heavily I kept free from being wet by us- 
ing it and had plenty of room to do the operation. 
In material the Perfection Cape is high class, the 
workmanship of the best and it is a practical, useful 
garment designed by a fellow who knows what is 
needed by the outer. 

FUMO MOSQUITO AND FLY CHASER 

FuMO Mosquito and Fly Chaser. — Made by 
the Taplex Corporation, Broadway and 34th St., 
New York City. Have you ever wanted to do a bit 
of night-fishing, either the moonlight stuff or the 
simon-pure black night game when the big bass are 
doing their surface frolic, you would have gone, it's a 
ten to one shot — but darn those pesky, friendly little 
buzzing mosquitoes. They always try to whisper 
secrets in my ear and take a bit o' toll in the way of 
a bite or two. You can play the night game now — 
play it to a fare-you-well, get the big bass, have the 
joy of night-casting and tell the whole darned mos- 
quito family to go to . Just take along a Fumo 

burner and a little box of Fumo Incense, fill 'er up, 
light it and place it in the canoe and it's a good-bye 
to the winged pests. And say, old-timer, it smells 
like a cross between a Chinese Joss House and a 
gilded palace — your nostrils fill with a pleasing 
whiff of an oriental perfume and for the life of me 



302 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

I cannot see why a mosquito hates It so much, it 
smells so restful and nice that you would think they 
would be tickled to death to sit around and enjoy 
it. But it certainly drives them away and you can 
cast in peace and comfort. I backed the canoe 
right plumb into a weedy bay at the head of a tam- 
arack swamp right in the home of miUions of mos- 
quitoes, set the old Fumo agoing and they cleared 
right out and I sure cleaned that bay for a couple 
nice big bass. Besides chasing the buzzers away, 
Fumo is worth smelling any old time and I set 'er 
going in the cabin of an evening while we pass out 
the bunk around the fire on the reasons why the big 
one got away. 

TAPLEX HANDY WARMER 

Taplex Handy Warmer. — Made by the Tap- 
lex Corporation, Broadway and 34th St., New York 
City. The Taplex Handy Warmer is a sure enough 
cold weather friend. One in each side pocket after 
a few hours in a duck blind in the cold morning tem- 
perature when the ducks like to fly makes a fellow 
thank the big chief for sending them along for a 
tryout. No smoke or smell and with one loading, 
so help me Hannah, if they didn't keep nice and 
warm for over seven hours, fact is I had to regulate 
them a bit from being too darned warm. They 
are just a nice size, enough to clasp the hand 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 303 

around and give you a good warm grip and 
with the hands warm and the feet warmed by 
a couple pair of wool sox, say, cold weather ducking 
has no terrors at all. The fuel with which you fill 
the stove looks like a cross between a scrambled 
bunch of cobwebs and soot but it certainly is surpris- 
ing what a small amount of it will produce in the line 
of good warm heat. And by mixing a tablespoon of 
pulverized charcoal with the old burnt out ashes of a 
loading of the fuel you get another shot of heat for 
six or seven hours. A tube of charcoal, enough for 
five loadings costs you a jitney which Is cheap enough 
in these High-cost days. There is no chance of a 
fire on the person if you cart one of these stoves 
in the pocket. I gave it every opportunity to play a 
trick on me but it just went along and produced heat 
of high or low degrees as I regulated it by closing 
the covering or opening it. Not a bad piece of kit 
at all and well worth the fellow's time to carry 
along if he goes out where the cold weather makes 
cold hands, an unexpected delight. 

THE McMILLIN AUTO BED 

The McMillin Auto Bed. — Made by the 
Auto Bed Co., Bellingham, Wash. For a compact 
handy bed that sleeps two people very well, without 
any sagging and rolling together, the McMillin 
Auto Bed is right. It is not complicated and can be 



304 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

set up under the top in a few minutes, and every- 
thing is ready for the night. The materials used in 
the bed are strong and it is well made, the canvas 
sling being made of lo-ounce goods and ropebound 
for strength. The fact is the seat cushions sup- 
port the weight of the back, shoulders, and hips, 
prevents sagging and takes up the weight and 
pull that you would suppose drags on the top. 
The iron supports and canvas weighs but twelve 
pounds and can be wrapped in a roll about 4 inches 
by 2 feet long and can be strapped on the running- 
board, or the iron rods can be stored under the back 
seat. With the side curtains dropped you are pro- 
tected from wind and rain, and sleeping high and 
dry from the ground you have a mighty comfort- 
able bed. 

KEEN KUTTER JR. SHAVING SET 

Keen Kutter Jr. Shaving Set. — Made by the 
Simmons Hardware Co., St. Louis, Mo. This 
shaving set is the whole deck in a nice case, a place 
for everything and everything in its place or you 
can take what you need out and carry it with you, but 
the case is so compact and handy that the logical 
thing to do is to stick the whole outfit in the pack and 
have the tools of the shaving game all in one place 
when you need 'em. And by the way a shave in the 
morning in the woods is just as fine a thing as the 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 305 

A. M. shave in the city, It makes you feel clean and 
fresh and with the pine air it's a great feelin'. The 
razor itself is a neat little tool and it shaves clean 
and right, while the blades stand up under quite a 
few hairy races over the jaw. There is a good 
strop with the outfit and a sharpening arrangement 
to hold the blades that any kid could work and put 
an edge on a blade. And there is as nifty a lather 
brush in an individual nickeled case as you will find In 
many a day; It's a short, rubber-handled affair with a 
good hair brush that works like a charm on the face. 
I was particularly fond of the brush in the outfit. 
The soap is of the stick variety and it comes in a 
nickeled case with a movable bottom so that you 
can shove It up with the finger. The entire case 
full Is handy, neat and useful and if you tote It with 
you there is no chance of forgetting something. 
Like other tools with the Keen Kutter name on them 
this razor will help make that name popular with 
the fellow who likes a face tool with a keen edge 
and that will shave well at all times. The razor is 
built with an angle that practically makes it impos- 
sible to use it any other way than at the proper slant 
to get the most effective cutting edge. 

STONEBRIDGE FOLDING LANTERN 

Stonebridge Folding Lantern. — Made by 
the Stonebridge Mfg. Co., 23 Warren Street, New 



3o6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

York City. This lantern is a valuable addition to 
any kit and it is very simple with nothing to get out 
of order. The one Phave been using for five years 
is the galvanized iron' model, with aluminum reflec- 
tor and extra heavy mica windows. This lantern 
has had some mighty hard service, been tramped on 
and sunk under the water a number of times as well 
as packed considerable and outside of a few dinges 
does its part as a lantern as well now as it did the 
first time I lit it. Besides the fact that it folds into 
a small flat pack, the big thing that can be said of it 
is that it will not blow out — get that with its full 
force, old man, it's a lantern that will not blow out, 
regardless of the gale. This lantern has been 
knocked over, kicked over, and fell over and when 
righted still cast its light — and I never expected 
it to blow up and send the outfit to kingdom come. 
And, no matter where you are you can always buy a 
few candles for it. Taken four ways from the jack 
it is some lantern and I always feel pretty good when 
some fellow, who had previously kidded me about 
the candle affair, comes through with the acknowl- 
edgment that it is sure some lantern. It is in fact 
a very practical lantern and as it is used by the U. 
S. Army in many departments it must be able to 
stand the rough and ready wallops and still be on 
the job as a lantern. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 307 

SCHILLING'S AUTO-CAMP 

Schilling's Auto-Camp. — Made by The L. F. 
Schilling Company, Salem, Ohio. This is surely 
the entire camp and bed wrapped up into a little 
compact long bundle that straps onto the running- 
board of a car and doesn't take up hardly any room 
at all. It looks nifty on the board, and who of the 
crowd would suspect an entire camping quarters 
snugly in place for instant use. Your side curtains 
all up and you have a handy dressing-room in the 
car and can step right into bed, and say, when you 
mention beds in connection with the Schilling Auto- 
Camp, you mean real beds, for the bed which carries 
springs of a combination of the woven wire and link 
variety, like those on the Schilling, sure is some bed. 
There is no sag to it, you sleep right. And it is full 
48 Inches wide and 72 inches long of sleeping space, 
which is roomy enough for two, and three can bunk 
in it on an emergency. The frame is of pressed 
steel and swiveled onto the running-board. All 
parts are attached, and you cannot lose or forget 
'em. Steel parts are enameled and rust-proof. 
The tent part or shelter top is of heavy 12-ounce U. 
S. Khaki, and an extension spring attached to the 
foot-rail keeps the top taut. The camp can be 
erected complete in about five minutes and about the 
same amount of time Is necessary to take it down 
and stow it on the running-board. In manufacture 



3o8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

the Auto-Camp Is first-class, and in material it is of 
the best quality. As a real nifty, cozy, and com- 
plete camp in compact form, either when set up or 
packed, the Auto-Camp can be fully recommended 
to any outer who likes to sleep snug in his own bed 
instead of taking chances in any old bed he is likely 
to find wherever he stops. 

DANZ BAGS 

Danz Bags. — Made by Summers Mfg. Co., Los 
Angeles, Calif. This is certainly a fine piece of 
equipment and shows at once the car-marks of a 
practical man as the designer. The bag is a com- 
bined shell and game bag and is equally as good for 
hunter, hiker or fisherman. The first impression 
gained is that the pocket in the back should be higher, 
but this is wrong, it is placed just right and carries 
well with a full pocket of game or fish. For hunt- 
ing, shells are carried in the four front and side 
pockets and are very accessible; for fishing these 
same pockets hold the tackle and the small pockets 
on the flaps accommodate the smaller sinkers, hooks, 
and what-not of the tackle-box, while the game 
pocket eliminates the creel, being one in itself. It 
can be worn with or without a coat and it carries 
snug and balances well. The standard khaki duck 
of which the bag is made is excellent material and 
it is doubled sewed, leather bound and strengthened 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 309 

by rivets. In hiking the smaller kit can be carried 
in this bag and an ordinary pack or duffle-bag car- 
ried above it, or for going light it will carry suffi- 
cient kit and a light tent can be carried above it. 
For a mighty handy, efficient, and well-made piece 
of outdoor equipment, the Danz Bag is right in ev- 
ery respect and its material stands the gaff of rough 
treatment. 

KAPO KANTSINK GARMENTS 

Kapo Kantsink Garments. — Made by the 
Kapo Manufacturing Co., 114 Bedford Street, Bos- 
ton, Mass. The Kapo product is a life saver, 
whether it is made into a belt, waistcoat, canoe 
cushion, or any other kind of outing kit. I took my 
Kapo waistcoat, tied a dead weight into it, threw 
it into the lake one evening and it was serenely float- 
ing when I came down to give it the once over in the 
morning. I let it stay in the water the entire day 
and took it out that evening and the only thing that 
was changed was the fact that it was very wet, and 
who would not be willing to be considerably wet if 
they were hauled out of the water twenty-four hours 
after they Avere dumped into it, and be taken out 
floating right side up? For canoeing for pleasure 
it should make a fine thing to have about, either as 
the waistcoat or in the shape of cushions; and on the 
stream where there is a lot of white water the waist- 
coat would be a good thing to have along for the 



3IO FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

spill that often takes place. It Is strongly made 
and well tailored and considering what it will do is 
very light, mine weighs just one and one-half pounds 
and it does not interfere with casting at all. I pre- 
fer the waistcoat because of the freedom to the arms. 
The fact that the U. S. Battleships are fitted with 
these garments show they have stood up under far 
harder tests than a sportsman would ever have to 
put them to. When it's blowing just a bit rough 
and the canoe is taking the sea with considerable 
wobble, there is a comfortable feeling to the game 
when you know there is a Kapo right handy. 

EVER READY AUTO BED 

Ever Ready Auto Bed. — Made by the StoU 
Mfg. Co., Denver, Col. Just bore two little holes 
in the running board and attach the Ever Ready 
Auto Bed with the bolts that come with it and you 
are ready for the outdoors, ready with a good bed 
and a tent over it, that can be set up in about three 
minutes and everything set for a good night's rest. 
The reason of the treat of a good night's rest Is be- 
cause the bed is made with real live steel springs 
that won't sag with two big heavy weights. There 
is sure real sleeping comfort In the bed and you wake 
up in the a. m. feeling fit for a full day's casting or 
hunting. The mattress Is light and strong and es- 
pecially constructed to keep out the cold and It has 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 311 

a homey feel to tired shoulders and hips. The tent 
part of the kit Is made of close woven Army duck 
and it is storm-proof. A very good thing in the 
make-up of the tent is the ventilators in the side 
flaps which give you a bit of air without the bugs 
and 'skeeters that generally go with it in the out- 
doors, because they are insect proof. The Ever 
Ready is a simple arrangement to set up and when it 
is set up it is very solid and substantial. For an 
Auto bed that is compact and handy it is to be recom- 
mended and at the same time the material and work- 
manship on the Ever Ready is all that could be de- 
sired in equipment of this kind. For sleeping com- 
fort the bed is equal to any bed in your home. And 
you can pack as high as five blankets in the lay-out 
without making it bulge out of shape. It carries 
well on the car making no noise nor rattle and is the 
real goods in every way. 

AEROTHRUST MOTOR 

Aerothrust Motor. — Made by the Aero- 
thrust Engine Co., La Porte, Ind. The Aerothrust 
motor sure can take a canoe or rowboat through the 
weed beds and rushes without any trouble, and wher- 
ever there is enough water to float your craft you 
can go with the Aerothrust, and that certainly is an 
advantage to be chalked up to its credit. In mate- 
rial and manufacture, for quality and workmanship, 



312 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

this motor certainly comes clean. The cylinders are 
cast en bloc, the crank-shaft and connecting rods are 
forged from a solid piece of high-grade carbon steel, 
and all pins and rings are hardened and ground. 
It will stand the gaff of hard rough going. All 
parts are accurately machined, assuring alignment 
and the least possible wear. The new pitch to the 
propeller will give a speed of ten miles an hour with 
the engine running at 1600 per minute. I got an 
average of eighteen miles to a gallon of fuel and 
think it will run a little better than this if economy 
of operation is practiced. The magneto gives a 
good spark on a half turn of the crank, and during a 
month's workout the motor caused no trouble to 
speak of, and it was operated by six or eight differ- 
ent people more or less expert at the engine game. 
In all details the Aerothrust Outboard Motor is well 
made and strongly constructed and it is a valuable 
addition to the boating end of the game. 

HOPPE'S NITRO POWDER SOLVENT 
NO 9 

Hoppe's Nitro Powder Solvent No. 9. — 
Made by Frank A. Hoppe, 1741 N. Darien Street, 
Philadelphia, Pa. Here is an oil that will remove 
the residue of any high-power powder as well as 
black powder; it is great stuff for the bore, as It 
keeps It from rusting and corroding and at the same 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 313 

time It removes metal fouling. You do not have to 
use a brass brush with this solvent and in this way 
adding to the life of the barrel. It is also fine for 
rubbing over the outside of the gun as a preventer of 
rusting. After cleaning I found that it would re- 
move leading and fouling by running a piece of cot- 
ton cloth soaked with the oil through the barrel, as 
the mixture acted as a neutralizer on anything left 
in the barrel. It is good dope for any kind of a 
bore and is particularly effective in the high-power 
rifles, Including the 22 caliber. I also found that 
it was a good plan to run a rag or two, dipped in the 
oil, through the barrel before firing, but in such case 
it Is necessary to dry the bore thoroughly before fir- 
ing. It is equally as good for shot-guns, revolvers, 
and, in fact, any kind of firearms, and one big thing 
in Its favor Is that it is not made of combination of 
acids, as a matter of fact no acids are used whatever. 
It is a merit nitro-solvent oil and is easily used in all 
guns. 

RAZ CREEL HARNESS 

Raz Creel Harness. — Made by W. D. Hum- 
phrey, Pendleton, Oregon. Here is certainly an 
ideal creel harness, it is a rattling good piece of kit. 
The entire weight of the creel full of fish rests on 
the bottom straps that run under the basket which 
is the logical place to carry it. There is a circling 



314 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

strap running around the creel and from rings the 
straps run under the creel and up to the other side of 
the circling straps, the bottom straps are braced by 
two straps across longwise under the basket and 
these are reinforced by two zinc strips. The har- 
ness is very easy to adjust, you simply run the cir- 
cling straps through the openings in the basket and 
buckle them on the inside. Besides holding the 
creel in a snug position to the body it takes but a 
moment to unstrap the harness and remove the bas- 
ket entirely which makes it a simple job to wash the 
basket and keep it clean and sweet. It is easily ad- 
justed to any carrying position and will fit a creel 
from numbers three to six inclusive. I have sewed 
on leather reinforcements to my creel heretofore 
and made a sort of harness, but the leather soon be- 
came foul and rotten from repeated washings. 
Nothing like that happens with this harness, it does 
not collect dirt and it stays clean which is something 
to be glad for with a creel layout. It is made very 
strong and it sure is durable, being made of Latigo 
leather and the buckles and rings nickeled. The 
straps are all copper riveted, no sewing to tear out. 
Taking the Raz harness every way around it is a fine 
high-class, useful piece of outfit and something that 
will make the stream wader pass up a little prayer 
of joy when he owns one. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 315 

PARR FOLDING FROG BOX 

Parr Folding Frog Box. — Made by the North 
Star Spinning & Mfg. Co., 1834 University Ave., 
St. Paul, Minn. Here is an excellent little carrier 
for the live frog that is a real handy and useful af- 
fair. When closed for packing to the camp it folds 
into a compact small space and packs flat without 
making any bulk at all. The sides and tops are of 
galvanized wire and the ends and bottom of sheet 
metal. It will not rust and it is built strong and 
sturdy, the ends being held close by strong springs; 
from either end the bait can be taken out without 
trouble, the springs bringing the end closed snug as 
soon as the frog is removed. I carried two dozen 
frogs three hundred and fifty miles by train, ten 
miles by auto and the last three by trail and the 
frogs were in good shape when they reached the 
bass. The fact that the ends close by strong spring 
pressure makes 'em " fool proof " and you cannot 
forget to shut 'er up again. You can slip the box 
into the pocket for the hike home. And for an 
emergency minnow bucket you can hang it over the 
side of the boat and have live minnows any time. 
Taken all the way round the Parr Folding Frog Box 
is a clever piece of kit, it is made right and one of 
them ought to last a fellow a lifetime in the fishin' 
game, and the fellow who invented it sure must have 
been a fisherman because it makes the old style frog 
basket look like an " also ran." 



3i6 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

DUXBAK CLOTHING 

DuxBAK Sportsman's Clothing. — Made by 
Utica-Duxbak Corporation, Utica, N. Y. Hang- 
ing on the peg in my cabin, Timberedge Lodge, as 
I write this, is an old worn hunting jacket that has 
been my pal on many a hike in quest of feathers, 
furs and fins. Great has been the service of this 
coat in days of rain, of sunshine and of snowy flur- 
ries, through timber, burnt-over and slashings, along 
the rushing stream and placid lake waters. This 
coat is dear to my heart, it has been a faithful ser- 
vant, always ready and willing to serve. Rough 
has been the treatment I have given it for the past 
ten years, but it has always stood up to just a bit 
more than I could expect of it. It has kept me dry 
when everything else was wet, warm when the cold 
winds whipped through the pines or while sitting 
waiting for the whirr of wings in the duck blind. 
When I jam my arms into the sleeves of this old 
coat, I feel as nobly clad as any knight of old in his 
shimmering armour of burnished steel and chain. 
It is good for many more days on woods and water 
trails. It is a Duxbak coat, lo years young. 
That is the only trouble with a Duxbak coat, they 
last so darned long and a fellow gets so fond of the 
Comfy feel of one o' them that he hates to throw it 
.away. Every way through in wear, fit and style 
I have found the Duxbak a premier piece of out- 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 317 

door clothing. The Duxbak garments are water- 
proofed and they keep you dry, that is something 
when you can always figure on an average of wet 
days when in the woods. They are strong and well 
made and the style of the garments for different 
wear are made with just the special features that 
make such garments right handy for that particular 
end of out-doors sport. Writing this tryout has 
been one of the easiest things I ever had to do, be- 
cause I have used this line for ten years and expect 
to use it for many more. If I could not get any new 
garments of Duxbak, I feel that the ones I have will 
still be wearable when my time comes to pass on to 
the happy hunting ground. And here's hopin' I get 
a layout equally as useful to wear over there. 
That's how good I have found them. 

BRADLEY SWEATERS 

Bradley Sweaters. — Made by the Bradley 
Knitting Co., Delavan, Wis. When a fellow buys 
a sweater he looks 'em all over and hopes he has 
picked the best, but when he once buys a Bradley he 
never bothers again about what he'll buy the next 
time if he ever has to buy one because It's a hundred 
to one shot that he will go in and say " Gimme an- 
other Bradley Sweater." And the reason is that he 
has had more downright good wear and value out 
of the first Bradley that he knows he is satisfied and 



3i8 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

that the Bradley is what he wants. And this is all 
because the Bradley people make a true value 
sweater, a garment that has snap and style to it and 
a helova lot of wear to it. I have a Bradley that 
I bought five years ago, one of the Navajo coat 
styles, that has kicked around with me on many a 
trip and had more rough usage on hike and trail, 
through burnt-over and brush country and what-not 
and yet to-day this old piece of kit has enough style 
and hang to it to look toppy when worn in the city 
or at a golf club. The reason is that it was made 
right — made of the right stuff at the start and 
made to wear. The only thing I cannot see is how 
the Bradley outfit can put so much value into a 
sweater that will last so long. When can a fellow 
wear one out and have to buy a new one? It seems 
to me that they will last a lifetime and for that rea- 
son I say that a garment like a sweater that gener- 
ally gets out of shape and hang, that is made so that 
it wears like iron, and still looks the part of a thor- 
oughbred after long use and still holds its shape and 
style is an article that I can recommend as being 
right in every respect. The Bradley sweater is that 
kind of a sweater, it is full value any time and in a 
class by itself. 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 319 

"WEAR-EVER" ALUMINUM WARE 

*' Wear-Ever " Aluminum Individual Camp- 
ing Outfit. — Made by The Aluminum Cooking 
Utensil Co., New Kensington, Pa. This little old 
compact outfit is certainly a dinger. For a number 
of years I had in my outfit one of the U. S. army 
mess kits, but when I lamped this " Wear-ever " stuff 
and compared the weight with the old kit, I shot the 
old army pal up into the garret and have used the 
new one ever since. I find it very convenient and can 
pack enough bacon, salt, pepper, and other dope for 
a couple of meals right inside the cup and pot and 
carry the whole thing in the neat strong khaki bag 
which slings over the shoulder out of the way, al- 
though I have rigged it with snap hooks and snap it 
right onto my pack. Before I had used aluminum 
in the outdoor trips some of my pals said it would 
hold the heat too long and be inconvenient in that 
way. This is, in my opinion, not a fact at all, as I 
find that when you are preparing a meal in the out- 
doors the tendency is for part of the meal to get 
quite cold while you are getting the balance of it in 
shape, and I feel that what heat the aluminum does 
hold is to the advantage of the outfit and makes for 
a better, warmer meal. For an all-round good 
compact outfit for use on the hikes from lake to lake, 
or on the trail when you are going light, the " Wear- 
ever " Individual outfit is a decided improvement 



320 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

over the home-made affair, and the beauty of the out- 
fit is that you are carrying no excess weight or kit. 
The outfit consists of a pudding pan or plate, a 
bucket or pot with cover in which you can brew some 
fine coffee or tea, a cup, fork and spoon, and a fry- 
ing-pan with a folding handle. This handle is holed 
for the use of a stick to lengthen it if desired, and 
the whole affair nests into a small pack. Aluminum 
is the right stuff for the cooking kits, and " Wear- 
ever " on the bottom of a pan means the same as 
sterling on a piece of silver. 

BROADBILL DUCK CALL 

Broadbill Duck Call. — Made by N. C. Han- 
sen Co., Zimmerman, Minn. This is certainly a 
fine duck call and with a little practice you can make 
the calls of any duck. Of course the majority of the 
wild duck species will answer the call of the Mal- 
lard which is easily learned on the Broadbill. The 
beginner at calling will find this a simple call to mas- 
ter and the old-timer will be delighted with it. It 
is very well made and the materials are good. All 
around it is high class and will mean a good flight 
of ducks if used right. I have had one in my duck 
outfit for a number of years and it is in just as good 
shape now as the day I took it out of its box and 
made my purp stand on his ear looking for the bird. 
It was originated by an old-time hunter and pat- 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 321 

terned after one he had used for years and it na- 
turally should be good when doped up by a duck- 
hound. 



FLY-TYING MATERIAL 

Fly-Tying Material. — Made by C. H. Shoff, 
405 Saar Street, Kent, Wash. The line of fly-tying 
materials carried by Mr. Shoff are of the highest 
quality and the assortment is varied and complete. 
Although I have not used material from all of his 
stock, what I have used was up to A-i in every re- 
spect, and some few exceptional pieces of goods have 
been secured from him that are not generally in 
stock. His peacock and wood duck feathers are 
fine, and the matched feathers carefully selected. 
Mr. Shoff has written an excellent little booklet on 
" How to Tie Artificial Flies " with a chapter on 
how to make your own leaders. This book should 
be read by every fellow who anticipates the pleasure 
of tying his own flies, and it can be secured free by 
sending a two-cent stamp to Mr. Shoff to cover the 
cost of mailing. To the boys who have never tied a 
fly there is a lot of sport due to the feeling of making 
the fly that coaxes the big fin into the creel, and with 
first-class materials such as Shoff handles and a bit 
of practice many killing patterns can be tied with 
a little patience. 



322 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

OLT'S GAME CALLS 

Olt's Game Calls. — Made by Philip S. Olt, 
Pekin, III. For quite a good many years Olt's 
Game Calls have been famous throughout the great 
duck regions of the mid-west section and they de- 
serve every bit of the fame that has come to them. 
The call I used during the last season, however, was 
not one of the regular ones but Olt's newer adjust- 
able duck and crow call. A mighty big advantage 
of this call over the ordinary one tone duck call is 
that it can be quickly adjusted to call the particular 
call of any of the ducks and it is equally as easy to 
set it for calling crows. One does not find it neces- 
sary to carry an assortment of calls, the adjustable 
call taking the place of many of different tone. 
The call is well made and entirely of hard rubber 
which does away with any metallic sound often 
found in calls and it will not shrink or swell in damp 
weather. Mr. Olt has put the experience of many 
years at hunting game birds into the character of 
this call and when you use it, you know that it was 
designed and made by a practical duck man. Much 
sport can be had with this call shooting crows as it is 
easy to bring them within gunshot by using it. Of 
course you must know the call of the bird to be imi- 
tated In order to give the correct tone to your call- 
ing; knowing this, you cannot help but find it success- 
ful. At the same time the more crows the sports- 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 323 

men kill off helps protect the nests of the real game 
birds. 



HEINZ FOODS 

Heinz 57 Varieties. — Made by H. J. Heinz 

Company, Pittsburg, Pa. If there is one little thing 
that adds spice to the camp commissary it sure is 
the Heinz line of food products. They certainly 
break up the monotony of the usual camp diet like a 
16-centimeter shell wallops the first line trenches. 
Old-timer, it makes you smack your lips to even 
think of the variety that can be added to the camp 
table by a varied selection of these wonderful goods 
with th€ snappy flavor. The best meal you can 
think of, that has tickled your palate in the city has 
nothing on a camp meal well done when served with 
a dash of Heinz Ketchup, or some of those pickled 
mixtures like the India relish. Yeah Bo ! You 
gotta hand it to Mr. Heinz for putting up a line of 
pickled fancies that would make any old meal ap- 
petizing. I have used the whole deck and back 
again, everyone of the fifty-seven and it is hard to 
tell which is best. They are all good from the oven- 
baked beans to the Cream Soups and Fig Pudding. 
Before I started taking Heinz along to my fishing 
camp, all the meals had about the same taste and 
flavor; about the fifth day, everyone was on edge 
about the cooking, and carried a grouch right along. 



\ 



324 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

Then I started with a little assortment of the Heinz 
good things to eat. After that you never heard a 
peep out of the worst old growler of the bunch and 
that's one reason why I have Heinz in many differ- 
ent styles in the cabin cupboard. It is surprising 
what you can do in the way of making tasty sauces 
and relishes with a few bottles of these goods and 
they tone the stomach up at the same time that they 
taste so good. They are put up clean, pure, and 
sanitary and the name of Heinz on a food product 
is just as much a mark of worth as the 24 kt. on a 
piece of jewelry. And Oh Boy! They are easy to 
open, you don't need a jimmy. 

ANKER'S BRAND BOUILLON 
CAPSULES 

Anker's Brand Bouillon Capsules. — Made 
by the Royal Specialty Co., New York City, N. Y. 
Here is the chance for the sportsman to take the 
real fresh meat flavor on the trail in a compact form 
and know that he is carrying a supply of food-stuff 
that is really made from meat and concentrated to 
the utmost. Drop one or two capsules into the pot 
of soup and it takes on a flavor that makes it a most 
palatable dish, or when you come in tired and cold 
from the lake or trail, heat a little water and slip a 
capsule into the tin cup and you have a bracer that 
will hold you together until the feed-bag is ready 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 325 

for the evening chuck, and say, boy, it will give you 
an appetite like an old sea dog. It's clean and pure 
and as nutritious as the broth of fresh meat, with 
none of the unpleasant flavor sometimes found in 
preparations of this kind. And the big winning fea- 
ture besides the high food value and the compact- 
ness, is the fact that each bit of extract is put up in 
a sealed capsule which is sanitary, clean, and free 
from chance contamination. This is good stuff for 
the commissary and gives a change from the usual 
line of flavors found in the camp menu. After the 
first couple days out, if the " tummy " goes wrong 
with the change of diet, just try these capsules for a 
day or so and it will help put the digestive organs 
back into good shape. The fact that Anker's Brand 
Bouillon Capsules are ready for instant use and can 
be prepared in a moment's time, and that they are 
pure, clean, and wholesome, commends them for the 
use of the outer. 

WHITE HOUSE COFFEE 

White House Coffee. — This coffee made by 
the Dwinell-Wright Company, 311 Summer Street, 
Boston, Mass., is certainly the goods when it comes 
to getting up a coffee that has got the real aroma 
and flavor, which, when it comes stealing into your 
tent in the morning, will snake you out of bed like 
a team of horses; once you get that fragrant smell 



326 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

of White House Coffee in your nostrils, it won't take 
you very long to wash up and make a bee-line for 
the breakfast table. 

I have tried and tested a two-pound can of Ground 
White House Coffee recently, and for a number of 
years I have used it at the house, and believe me, it 
is great. I have about sixteen different ways of 
making coffee, and the boys all tell me that my coffee 
is good. I am a modest guy, but I am so fussy 
about making the coffee that I don't blame the boys 
for saying that I make it right. 

Point No. I on making good coffee is to have the 
coffee-pot absolutely clean. Don't let any of the 
brown scum or deposits remain on the side of the 
pot or in the spout when you rinse it out. Then 
you can make your coffee by allowing one table- 
spoonful to each cup, and one extra tablespoon to 
the pot, pour on your freshly boiled water and stir 
the coffee which rises to the top down underneath 
the water, then allow it to draw for five minutes, but 
don't boil, pour slowly so as not to stir up the 
grounds. 

No. 2 Recipe : — Make the same allowance of 
White House Coffee for each cup as above, wet the 
coffee a little in the bottom of the pot and let it 
stand while you are mixing up the flapjacks, then fill 
the pot with cold water and let it come to a boil, 
boiling not more than two or three minutes, take it 
off the fire and let it stand for three or four minutes 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 327 

before serving. Don't let coffee stand and get cold 
in the pot any way you make it, it kills the flavor. 
You cannot make bad coffee with a good coffee like 
WHITE HOUSE, if you simply follow out direc- 
tions above. 



TECO PANCAKE AND TECO BUCK- 
WHEAT FLOUR 

Teco Pancake and Teco Buckwheat Flour. 
— Made by the Ekenberg Company, Cortland, N. 
Y. Here is a pancake flour that has the added 
value of malted buttermilk mixed in with it to give 
necessary punch to the flour to produce delicious 
food. The buttermilk is reduced to a powder and 
mixed right in with the flour and say, old-timer, if 
you want to make the old homey kind of pancakes 
with the milky flavor, you can do it without toting 
any milk along if you use Teco. This buttermilk, 
besides making the pancakes easily digestible adds 
to their nutritive value, fact is, it produces a cake 
that is deliciously different. They have a taste that 
won't come off. Not only in making A-i pancakes 
does Teco shine as a flour, but you can use it in 
many different ways around the camp. It makes a 
crackerjack good bannock and for a sour dough 
bread you gotta go some to beat it. I think that 
the flavor to many things can be improved greatly 
by using Teco Pancake Flour instead o-f ordinary 



328 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

wheat flour. Most any kind of fish or meat, when 
rolled in Teco before frying will make a dish fit 
for a king. Teco Flour is good all the way through 
and as a tip to the outer, write the Eckenberg Co. 
for their booklet " Campfire Cookery." It is full 
of tried recipes for out-door cooking, that will be 
found of value for the camp menu. 

RY-KRISP 

Ry-Krisp. — Made by The Original Ry-Krisp 
Co., Minneapolis, Minn. For the fellow who goes 
into the woods and along the water-trails, Ry-Krisp 
is great stuff. It's a bread baked dry and hard, but 
not as hard as the old hardtack, and it has a great 
many advantages over that old piece of the com- 
missary. The first time I bought it for a trip to 
the woods the two pounds never reached the woods, 
because the family liked it so well that we ate it 
before starting north, and ever since that time I 
have had Ry-Krisp in the home menu. We often 
substitute it for toast in the morning and munch a bit 
of it any time, and it sure is a great little stomach 
regulator. For the woods, it makes it unnecessary to 
bake bread, and from some of the bread the fellows 
bake in the woods — deliver me and my little 
tummy. Ry-Krisp will not become soggy, and a 
bunch in the hunting-coat pocket answers the bread 
question in the woods. It is an ideal camp bread 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 329 

and is very agreeable to the taste. Besides all this, 
it is really a wonderful health food, and it's a hun- 
dred to one shot that many of the thousands suffer- 
ing with stomach trouble would fall to it with glee 
if they knew what a fine thing it is. It is made en- 
tirely of ground rye and a bit of salt and that is all, 
but for downright good stuff for the system, in camp 
or home, I am behind it with both feet because it 
put my cranky old stomach in first-class shape and 
that is one reason why I am for it. Forget your 
bread troubles and take along Ry-Krisp. It keeps 
indefinitely, that is if you can keep from eating it 
faster than you figured on. 

FARWELL & RHINES' FLOURS AND 
FOODS 

Farwell & Rhines' Flours and Foods. — 
Made by Farwell & Rhines, Watertown, N. Y. I 
have always found that with the change of location, 
air, water, and diet, incurred when on a hunting, 
fishing or canoe trip, a man needs an effective laxa- 
tive. One of the best is Farwell & Rhines' Table 
Bran; and the best thing about it is that you can take 
your " medicine " without knowing it. If I am mix- 
ing up a batch of flapjacks, or a pan of biscuit, I 
put in three heaping teaspoonsful of this table 
bran; it improves the flavor, while acting in a per- 
fectly natural way as a stimulant to the lower di- 



330 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

gestive tract, and keeping a man " regular." Far- 
well & Rhines make a number of special flours, and 
their Cresco and Gluten flours are put up especially 
for people with diabetes and dyspepsia. Person- 
ally, I am one of those disgracefully healthy spec- 
imens, so I didn't need the Cresco or Gluten prod- 
ucts, but I tried them out several times just for fla- 
vor and cooking properties, and because I know 
there are some brother sportsmen who are afflicted 
with poor health who will be glad to know that these 
special " diet " flours cook up as appetizingly as the 
untreated goods, while at the same time filling the 
doctor's orders. The terrific appetite that the out- 
doors gives the average sportsman demands some- 
thing that will " stand by " a man, and I can espe- 
cially recommend for this the Farwell & Rhines K. C. 
Whole Wheat Flour and their Crescent Graham 
Flour. Biscuits, flapjacks, and bread, made up 
from either of these, are more laxative than the 
white flour product. Graham flapjacks are in my 
estimation a lot healthier than others made of ordi- 
nary wheat flour. For a breakfast food that will 
stand by you for a heavy day's casting, paddling, or 
hiking, I want to recommend strongly that you try 
Chesco Grits, or the Farwell & Rhines Barley Crys- 
tals. The former tastes mighty good, old-timer, 
when you slice it up cold, fry it, and eat it with ma- 
ple syrup — m-m — man I 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 331 

GRAPE-NUTS 

Grape-Nuts. — Made by the Postum Cereal 
Company, Battle Creek, Mich. Many articles of 
food carried into the woods will not give you half 
the pleasure and food value of Grape-Nuts, and in 
many cases a fellow does not tote along this tasty 
cereal because he does not know of its value as a 
food and the wonderful good it does to have some- 
thing in the grub sack that will give him a change in 
diet from the usual flap-jacks and bacon, especially 
at the early A. M. meal, not to mention the fine taste 
it gives to the evening meal as a wind-up dish. It 
is easy to pack and always ready for a quick lunch. 
It contains high food value and although four or 
five tablespoonsful are all right for the city diet, 
believe me, after hitting a fair to middling trail or 
portage, a great big bowl of Grape-Nuts makes a 
better impression on the appetite and you sure en- 
joy a good strong helping. The first time I took 
Grape-Nuts into the woods, my supply lasted about 
three days instead of a week. I never knew how 
good they really were until I got out-o'-doors where 
the craving for just such a food develops mighty 
fast overnight. I find that taking them out of the 
original package and placing them in air-tight tins 
keeps 'em crisp and fine. One of the greatest little 
hunger satisfiers is to put a pouch of, say, a couple 
handfuls of Grape-Nuts in your pocket when you 



332 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

start on a hike or fishing trip from the head camp 
and off and on during the day put a few in the mouth 
and munch them; this not only keeps down your hun- 
ger but it makes the mouth feel mighty good when 
you want a drink and no water in sight. At the 
same time your system is getting just the supply of 
natural cereal food that will balance the heavier 
foods one generally packs away while in the woods. 
This is especially of value to keep you in good con- 
dition and at the same time you have the pleasure of 
eating an appetizing dish that is a real palate de- 
hght along the woods and water trails. 

INSTANT POSTUM 

Instant Postum. — Made by Postum Cereal 
Co., Ltd., Battle Creek, Michigan. This product 
is a concentrated extract made out of whole wheat 
and molasses. The manufacturers state that there 
is nothing else contained in it. Take a teaspoon- 
ful of this dry powder and stir it into a cupful of hot 
water, and in a jiffy you have a delightful bracer 
with a flavor not too dissimilar from that of a mild 
high-grade coffee. When you are out in the woods, 
or you come in from a morning's fishing in the cold, 
drizzly rain, and you feel that you want something 
hot that will go right to the spot to warm you up 
and make you feel cheerful again, and at the same 
time give you a little something in the way of food 



FOR OUT-O'-DOORS USE 333 

value, all you have to do is go to the can of Instant 
Postum and make it up as described above. There 
is no caffeine or other drug in this article. It is ab- 
solutely pure and contains only the concentration 
from wheat and molasses, but there is absolutely no 
trace of the taste of molasses in the appetizing fla- 
vor of Instant Postum. I can recommend this prod- 
uct unqualifiedly as a bracer which is both delicious 
to the taste and of real food value to the camper, 
especially recommended to those people who are un- 
able to drink tea or coffee with comfort. / 

GOSSOM'S QUICK MADE POWDERED 
SOUPS 

Gossom's Quick Made Powdered Soups. — 
Made by B. F. Gossom, 1345A Beacon Street, 
Brookline, Mass, Samples I have tried out and 
tested were Gossom's Pea and Lima Bean Soups. 
These are put up in handy little rolls which occupy 
very little space. You wet up the powder with a 
little water and then you pour in boiling water and 
keep it on the fire for 15 minutes. You can make up 
a dandy tasting soup with this specialty without 
much trouble, and it is all the manufacturer claims 
it to be. It tastes just like the good hot steaming 
soup the wife makes up for you at home, and it 
is hearty and satisfying. As a camp commissary 
proposition that stands out on account of its all- 
round merits, I have got to hand it to Brother Gos- 



334 FISHING, TACKLE AND KITS 

som's preparations. You can't get a concentrated 
soup which has more food value value in less space 
than this, and let me tell you if you go ahead and 
get a sample and make it up according to directions, 
you will go to it with a vim and zest that will be one 
mighty little fine round of pleasure while you are 
sinking it into your system. Be careful when you 
are wetting up the powder at first to make it thor- 
oughly smooth, and you will join with me in saying 
that Gossom's Powdered Soups are the real article. 
These soups can be secured in quite a variety of veg- 
etables to satisfy most any appetite, namely green 
pea, yellow pea, lima bean, black bean, celery and 
mushroom, enough variety, in fact for even a jaded 
appetite. 



FISHING— SPORT — TRAVEL 

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Author of " Lake and Stream Game Fishes " 

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Many illustrations from photographs. Colored 

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FISHING— SPORT — TRAVEL 
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FISHING — SPORT— TRAVEL 

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FISHING — SPORT — TRAVEL 

Bass, Pike, Perch and Other Game Fishes 
of the United States 

Bt JAMES A. HENSHALL, M.D. 
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and text book for the angler with bait or artificial fly. 

The style of descriptions of the various fishes is new, lucid and 
entertaining. The suggestions and directions for angling, and of 
the tools and tackle recommended are in Dr. Henshall's best style, 
and can be confidently recommended and relied on as they are in 
strict conformity with his own practice and experience which cover 
a period of more than fifty years. 

Many illustrations , frontispiece and cover jacket in full color. 

12mo. Cloth Net $2.00 



The Book of the Black Bass 

By JAMES A. HENSHALL, M.D. 

Author of "Bass, Pike, Perch and Other Game Fishes of the 
United States." 

This new edition is revised to date and largely rewritten. 
Contains "Book of the Black Bass" and "More About the Black 
Bass." Comprising its complete scientific and life history, to- 
gether with a practical treatise on Angling and Fly-Fishing, with a 
full account of tools, implements, and tackle. 

Forest and Stream: "The Book is a complete treatise on the 
bass, containing not only advice as to methods of angling, but also 
the scientific history of the species and a thorough debate as to 
the tackle and other implements that should be used. It is a re- 
vised and enlarged edition of the author's older work." 

l2mo. Cloth. 140 illustrations. A handsome three-color cover 
jacket showing a real Bass Net $2.00 

STEWART & KIDD COMPANY, PUBLISHERS 



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